Is He Out of His Mind? (3)

A council was convened over an unprecedented madman — a man who had abducted the people of another commandery to make them subjects of his own self-proclaimed kingdom.

The military officers who each held their own place in our army — my uncle Ma Teng, Ma Chao, Pang De, and Yan Xing among them — gathered on the left side of the hall, while the civil officials, Fa Yan and Fa Zheng and Cheng Gongying, along with myself, if one insisted on counting me among the civil branch, took the right. Beyond them, several formerly prominent warlords who had surrendered to us attended the council as generals in their own right.

"Should we not strike him down at once?!"

Cheng Gongying, the famed general of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Liangzhou, was incensed that some nobody who didn't even know his place had committed an act of military provocation, and he argued forcefully for war.

"The Son of Heaven sits upon his throne, and not content with usurping a royal title, the man has now lost his mind entirely!! How could anyone dare abduct the people ruled by another warlord?"

...And so spoke a man who, in the historical record, had served under someone who rose in rebellion.

I had no intention of picking a fight over it, but there was something odd about hearing him invoke reverence for the Son of Heaven — this being the very man who had followed Han Sui, who raised a revolt in the original history, loyally to the very end until his master's death at the hands of his own subordinates.

"He's right!!"

"Even if he's seized Fuhan County and crowned himself king, his forces can't number many! We must attack, and quickly!!"

Ma Wan and Cheng Yin, former warlords turned generals, echoed Cheng Gongying's opinion with equal fervor.

Being generals accustomed to war, their tempers seemed rather on the short side.

"Hmm..."

"That may be so, but..."

My father and my uncle, too, wore the expressions of men deliberating carefully over the warlords' opinion.

"If I may — there is something that troubles me."

Fa Zheng raised her hand and stilled the officers, who had been howling in their indignation.

Cheng Yin scowled at her interruption.

"You're young, and you've held your post for less than a year. What qualification do you have to sit in this council?"

It was a slap at Fa Zheng's youth and inexperience, and I couldn't help but snort inwardly.

'By that logic, haven't you lot been part of our army for less than a year yourselves?'

Late to their commissions and yet, being former warlords, apparently possessed of remarkably high opinions of themselves.

I stepped forward to defend Fa Zheng personally.

"Fa Zheng is a strategist of ours. Kindly refrain from such discourtesy."

I was just as young as she was, but as the son of Han Sui, leader of our entire faction, the warlords cleared their throats and shrank back.

"Ahem..."

"...My apologies."

If they slung insults at me as well, they might find themselves marked by my father and watch their prospects wither — so they promptly bowed their heads.

"Fa Zheng. Continue."

"Yes, my lord."

Fa Zheng spread a map across the table and pointed to the Guanxi region.

"This is the Liang province territory under our control."

Her slender fingers traced circles around Jincheng Commandery and Wuwei Commandery.

"And this — is Fuhan County in Longxi Commandery."

She slid her finger low across the map and marked a spot on the high country, deep in the mountains.

"Given terrain blanketed in mountains, the Xiliang cavalry — our greatest military asset — will be unable to bring their strength to bear."

The Xiliang cavalry, raised on the vast open plains of Guanxi, possessed the shattering power to punch straight through an enemy line at a single point, but they were at a grave disadvantage when assaulting rugged terrain like mountain warfare.

"One careless move, and we'd almost certainly walk into an ambush."

It went without saying that cavalry could not withstand archers lying in wait on a mountain's high ground.

The mountains already restricted their mobility, and even if a rider raised his shield against the hail of arrows raining down from above, the moment his horse took a hit and threw him, the fall alone would inflict a serious wound.

"You mean to say, then, that they committed this wicked act relying solely on that treacherous terrain?"

asked Cheng Gongying, who had come to recognize Fa Zheng's exceptional stratagems through working alongside her on the army's administration.

"If they chose their ground purely for how easily it could be defended, and then picked this fight — then yes, that would be the case..."

The terrain was treacherous in the extreme, and our signature strength, the Xiliang cavalry, would be rendered useless there.

If we force-marched the cavalry into those mountains, the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠odds of heavy casualties were considerable.

"Then why not fight with infantry instead of cavalry?"

"Exactly. Haven't we been drilling formation tactics since a year ago, just as you proposed, in case we ever found ourselves unable to deploy cavalry?"

When Ma Chao offered her opinion, her father Ma Teng threw his support behind it.

It was true — since the previous year, our army had cultivated not only cavalry but also infantry and archers in preparation for urban and close-quarter combat.

"...That is possible. However, the army we could mobilize would number only about ten thousand."

Unlike in the past, when cavalry had dominated our ranks and our battle records, our infantry were few in number.

Excluding the soldiers whose training remained inadequate, infantry and archers combined would come to barely ten thousand at the generous end.

"Isn't that force sufficient? Surely not every soul in Fuhan County is a soldier?"

"...Yet there is another matter that concerns me."

"And what might that be?"

When Pang De, who had maintained her composure throughout the assembly, posed the question, Fa Zheng answered with visible deliberation.

"My doubt is whether the plan to abduct the people and make them subjects of his own realm was truly conceived by that man, Song Jiang."

Because the scheme was far too reckless to rest on terrain alone, Fa Zheng suspected someone else might be standing behind him.

But the former-warlord generals, men free of such pondering and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠true to their instincts, saw it differently.

"Of course it's that madman's own idea!! A man deranged enough to usurp a royal title — what wouldn't he do?"

"Yes! Anyone lunatic enough to proclaim himself the King of Pinghan of Hanshui — a grandiose name if ever there was one — was clearly out of his mind from the very start!!"

There is an oath known to every warlord under heaven: the oath Liu Bang, founding emperor of the Han, swore with his ministers in the blood of a white horse to secure his dynasty for ten thousand generations.

To break that covenant and crown oneself king was, from the very outset, a declaration of contempt for the Han.

Naturally, through the eyes of a servant sworn to the Han court, the man was every bit the lunatic he appeared.

And so the former warlords seemed to reason that a lunatic capable of crowning himself king was entirely capable of the madness of abducting another's people to make them his own subjects.

Well, there was one other lunatic drunk on honeyed water who would later seize the Imperial Seal and go so far as to proclaim himself Emperor of Zhong — but that was neither here nor there...

"That may well be true, but..."

Fa Zheng's anxiety made her trail off, and I asked about it out of concern.

"What is it? Do you think someone else is involved in this?"

"...No, my lord. I cannot be certain."

Fa Zheng, who could ordinarily conjure the most ingenious of stratagems, looked genuinely of two minds.

"Then it is settled!!"

Ma Wan slammed his hand on the table where the map lay spread and rose to his feet.

"We must strike Fuhan County and punish the traitor to the Han!!"

"......"

I had been wondering why he'd been so eager to voice his support for war since the meeting began, and now I finally understood.

Watching them from the side, they seemed restless, anxious that they had won no real distinction since joining our army.

They were not senior members of our forces.

Their rank sat below that of Pang De, who had entered our service by taking the head of a rebel chieftain, and below Fa Zheng, our strategist.

That merit should determine rank went without saying, but to them it evidently stung their pride.

Men who had once led warlord bands of their own now outranked by women barely past their twentieth year...

Their naked self-interest — to crush an easy enemy, win glory, and rise — was written plainly across their faces.

'If they pull that off, it would even let them advertise their standing as subjects of the Han, I suppose.'

"So — we're going to war?!"

Ma Chao, who had been wearing an expression of pure boredom throughout the council, sprang up in excitement, and I held her back as I addressed my father.

"Before that, we should send a letter to General Dong Zhuo, who governs Longxi."

"A letter?"

"Yes. A letter informing him that our forces will be passing briefly through Longxi to punish the traitor, and asking that he not raise his guard against us."

It was obvious that any other faction, Dong Zhuo or not, would seize on the sight of a foreign army crossing their land as a pretext to declare war.

And that greedy pig of a man in particular — there was no telling what scheme he might cook up.

"...That is the right course. We should send an envoy first, and move the army after."

Fa Yan, silent until now, finally spoke and lent his support to my proposal.

"Very well. I will dispatch the envoy myself. Han Yeong — you will ready the army."

"Yes, Father."

"And what should I do?"

"General Ma Teng, you will not march with this campaign. Hold Wuwei Commandery and stand watch against incursion by foreign tribes."

"Good, I understand."

Ma Teng resolved to remain in Wuwei, guarding against the barbarian tribes who were quiet for now but could descend upon us at any moment.

My father, Fa Yan, and Cheng Gongying would stay behind in Jincheng Commandery to prepare for any eventuality, and at Cheng Gongying's recommendation and by my own wish, I was to take command and lead the army myself.

My reason for volunteering was nothing remarkable.

It was simply that with me present, everyone else could be placed exactly where their talents would serve best.

With my orders given, Fa Zheng would devise the stratagems, and Ma Chao and Pang De would lead the vanguard with all their valor — so the fighting itself would pose no great problem.

Ma Wan and Cheng Yin worried me, liable as they were to act rashly on their ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠own, but at the very least, Yan Xing would protect my life.

And so, a week after the army completed its preparations for the march...

"...Right. Let's go. To catch a madman."

"Yes, my lord."

"The entire army — advance!!"

Having sent a courier ahead to request Dong Zhuo's indulgence for our brief passage through Longxi Commandery, we marched on Fuhan County at the head of ten thousand men.