The Pride of the Invincible General
As Li Mu had suspected, the letter was not delivered solely to him. It reached another man as well. And the recipient’s reaction was markedly different from Li Mu’s own.
The contents urged an alliance between Zhao and Yan, declaring that only by standing shoulder to shoulder like paired wings could both states rise once more into the heavens.
“Utter nonsense,” he growled, flinging the bamboo slip across the room. He glared at the man who had brought it. “I don’t know how you have the face to deliver something like this.”
“…Did you not see the seal on the letter?”
“I saw it. The name Zhao Sheng was written plain as day. That’s the only reason I’m even bothering to speak with you, Chu Yan.”
How many men in Zhao could remain utterly unmoved at the mere mention of Lord Pingyuan’s name? Even the King of Zhao dared not treat him lightly. Yet before the man standing opposite Chu Yan, even that legendary prestige amounted to little more than a name one might barely deign to utter.
“If you want to make use of Lian Po, that whelp should have come in person instead of hiding behind some measly seal.”
The Greatest General Under Heaven.
Lian Po.
He was the pillar of Zhao’s military, the living myth of unbroken victory, a commander of peerless renown. Even the Four Gentlemen of the Warring States, Lord Pingyuan included, paled before his accomplishments. Had the King of Zhao not made the fatal mistake of dismissing Lian Po and appointing Zhao Kuo during the Battle of Changping, Zhao might still stand today as a power to rival Qin. Considering that after the death of Bai Qi, Qin no longer possessed a general capable of facing Lian Po, it was entirely possible that Zhao had once been the strongest military state in the realm.
The pride of a warrior who stood at the absolute peak—rivaled only by Lord Xinling—was immense.
“If he had been in any position to meet you in person, he would have done so gladly.”
“As if a coward too frightened to even reveal his own name could speak so boldly.”
“You already know the circumstances behind that. And to call the man to whom Lord Pingyuan entrusted his seal a coward… If Lord Pingyuan hears of it in the afterlife, he will surely grieve.”
Lian Po’s words and actions were unbearably crude, yet Chu Yan refused to yield an inch. The two men were of the same generation. Though his achievements could not match Lian Po’s, Chu Yan had also survived the brutal Warring States era and accumulated just as much experience. When Lian Po openly exerted pressure with his imposing aura, Chu Yan stood straight-backed and unbowed, meeting force with force. Lian Po snorted but slightly eased his intimidation.
“Grieve? After the disaster he caused at Changping, he should have left behind someone capable of cleaning up the mess for future generations. What does a man of Yan know? A man of Yan… Well, Lord Pingyuan was always like that. Even with me and Lord Mafu still standing strong, he went and summoned that Tian Dan fellow from Qi.”
As Lian Po said, only one generation earlier Zhao had been a superpower rivaling Qin, overflowing with talent that made the world tremble. But now, the revered Lin Xiangru whom Lian Po had so respected was dead. The equally brilliant general Zhao She—who had led Zhao to victory in battles even Lian Po had shaken his head at—was gone. And Lord Pingyuan, the spiritual pillar of Zhao who had drawn support from every state, had also passed away.
Above all, far too many of Zhao’s young men—the very foundation of the state—had perished. Though the remaining famed generals like Lian Po might allow them to endure a few more years, in the long term Zhao could never survive alone.
Chu Yan pointedly touched on that structural weakness.
“You know it as well as I do. Zhao can no longer stand against Qin by itself.”
“Ridiculous!”
Bang!
Lian Po slammed his fist on the table before him, his rage exploding without restraint.
“As long as Lian Po lives and breathes, no nation under heaven shall dare invade Zhao!”
“Even though the Qin army has already turned Handan into their front yard?”
“Hmph. That’s only because His Majesty refused to employ me. Had I been in Handan, I would have crushed that greenhorn Wang Qi long before the Coalition army even arrived.”
“Very well, let us say that is true. But how much longer can you protect Zhao? Both you and I are already standing at the twilight of our lives.”
When Chu Yan readily took a step back, Lian Po’s fury subsided. Leaning back in his seat and folding his arms, he spoke with clear disdain.
“That may be true for you, Chu Yan. But I still have at least another ten good years left in me.”
“And after those ten years?”
Lian Po could not answer immediately. He wanted to declare that a worthy successor would appear, yet he harbored doubts whether anyone could truly fill the void he would leave. Even without him, Zhao still possessed several outstanding generals: Yue Sheng and Jing She, who had defeated the Qin forces led by Xin Liang; Fang Nan, a former diplomat who ranked second only to Lian Po within Zhao; and Li Mu, who had annihilated the troublesome Xiongnu while stationed at Dai and Yanmen. Yet none were considered his equal.
Had Lian Po ever sat down for a deep conversation with Li Mu, he would have scoffed at Chu Yan’s earlier words and declared without hesitation that he had already found his successor. Unfortunately, Lian Po was not yet convinced of just how extraordinary Li Mu’s talents truly were.
Seeing that Lian Po had no reply, Chu Yan pressed his advantage.
“This is Lord Pingyuan’s true intention. Not a state that relies on a single man, but stability across the realm achieved through alliance. Lord Pingyuan saw that possibility in the leaders of the next generation. For that to happen, we need your help, General Lian Po.”
“…Is that not the same as placing all your faith in that one whelp’s empty promises?”
“We do trust in the promise, of course. But we also trust in his vision to read the currents of the world. He knows that if Zhao falls, Yan will fall as well. Why then would he break the agreement first?”
Lian Po reflected on the words written in the letter he had thrown aside. It stated that Zhao and Yan must become shields for each other, standing shoulder to shoulder like paired birds if they were ever to soar into the sky again. Among them, one phrase had left a particularly strong impression on him.
But could one truly trust someone capable of biting those lips again at any moment?
True to his fiery temperament, Lian Po’s hesitation lasted only a moment.
“Fine.”
“General Lian?”
“I’ll let it pass this once. But mark my words. If I return and find that whelp unworthy of my respect, I will hang him from a pole and march straight to Ji, the capital of Yan, to conquer it myself.”
Lian Po was completely serious. If the sender of this letter was not someone worthy of entrusting the future of Zhao to, he fully intended to carry out exactly what he had just said. He was not a man who spoke empty threats.
Knowing this, Chu Yan simply nodded with calm confidence.
“He will not disappoint you.”
As much as Lian Po trusted in himself, Chu Yan trusted in that young man—the great-grandson who reminded him so much of his former lord, King Zhao of Yan. If it was Ji Dan, the one who had earned Lord Pingyuan’s protection and drawn out Lord Xinling’s aid, then surely he could win even Lian Po’s heart.
After each man moved busily with his own intentions, war finally began.
It started when Yan raised its army with Yul Fu as commander-in-chief, and Qing Qin and Yue Jian as deputy generals. The scale of the force was staggering: two thousand chariots. Considering the common estimate that each chariot was supported by roughly one hundred soldiers, this meant they had mobilized nearly two hundred thousand men. In reality the actual number fell somewhat short of that estimate—closer to one hundred and fifty thousand—but even so it was an enormous host.
The border with Qi was guarded by the waters of the Yi River, and the Liaodong region was protected by the Great Wall. Yan had scraped together every soldier available for defense and thrown the nation’s entire military strength into the invasion of Zhao.
Of course, there had been opposition within Yan. The Grand Tutor Guo Wu, who after his candid conversation with Ji Dan had recognized the danger of this war and pledged to prioritize negotiation. Yue Jian, son of Yue Yi—the greatest general in Yan’s history—who had been appointed deputy commander despite predicting that this war could not be won. Yet both men had been passive. Yue Jian had advised the King of Yan three times that they could not win, but when his counsel was ignored he fell into despair and gave up early. Guo Wu, too, decided to first observe the progress of the war before seeking the right moment to open talks.
Only the Senior Counselor Zhang Qu had staked his life on opposing the conflict. Enduring kicks from the King of Yan, he desperately resisted until he succeeded in preventing the King from personally leading the campaign. But that was all. While the King of Yan remained behind in Ji, the army of one hundred and fifty thousand crossed the border without hesitation and poured into Zhao territory.
The Yan army had already scouted Zhao’s interior twice and secured their route of advance, so they reached Songzi almost immediately. Songzi was a city located between Dai—Zhao’s effective northernmost region—and the capital Handan, though it lay closer to Handan. In other words, the Yan forces had driven deep into the heart of Zhao territory.
It was a lightning advance clearly aimed at marching straight to Handan and ending the war as quickly as possible.
Yet they had not simply charged blindly toward Handan alone. By the time the main force led by Commander Yul Fu arrived at Songzi, Deputy General Qing Qin had already reached Dai in northern Zhao. The plan was to attack from two directions and further scatter Zhao’s already insufficient troops.
Zhao did not sit idle either. Just as previously arranged, they appointed Lian Po as General-in-Chief and Yue Sheng as his deputy to meet the threat. Thus the commanders faced each other, and the deputies faced each other—Yul Fu against Lian Po, and Qing Qin against Yue Sheng.
Yul Fu, confronting Lian Po at Hao—a region south of Songzi and not far from Handan—felt boundless confidence. No matter how great a general Lian Po might be, there was no way he could lose against an army nearly four times larger. Indeed, Lian Po had taken a purely defensive stance. Emboldened, Yul Fu pressed forward with his numerical superiority, intending to overwhelm Lian Po’s lines. Yet Lian Po’s defenses showed not the slightest sign of wavering.
Then, not long after the two fronts settled into stalemate, an event occurred that shocked both Zhao and Yan at once.
The capital of Yan—Ji—had been surrounded.