Chapter 42
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 42
Chapter Title: Crossroads of Choice
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Two weeks had passed since we made Jinseong our stronghold. But the situation was spiraling toward disaster.
The grand hall of the government office brimmed only with heavy silence and Lu Zhi's fury. Scattered across the floor lay the shreds of a report that had just arrived, torn to pieces.
"These rat-bastard thieves!"
—BAM!
Lu Zhi slammed his fist down on the desk.
The report detailed how the supply convoy from Chang'an had once again been torched in an ambush by rebel cavalry.
This was the third time.
The enemy avoided direct confrontations, instead hounding our supply lines relentlessly with hundreds of cavalry units at a time.
Gaphun spoke up, his face grim.
"The supply lines are stretched too thin. We'll have to split our forces and bolster the escorts."
"And if they pick us off piecemeal? We'd be better off abandoning Jinseong..."
One colonel spoke in resignation, but Lu Zhi exploded.
"Shut your mouth! Lose this place, and we'd be holed up in Sambok with no way out. Are you suggesting we give up all of Yang Province?!"
I kept my mouth shut amid the heated arguments.
Retreat? Backing off here would be the end.
Strengthen escorts? Already proven futile.
They knew exactly where we'd guard, and sending men there again was pure madness.
With no clever solutions in sight, everyone was just bickering when I stepped forward.
"General. Staying on the defensive won't cut it. If they're targeting our supply lines, let's turn the tables and hunt them instead."
All eyes in the noisy hall turned to me.
"Send elite troops with Guan Yu and Zhang Liao to escort the convoys directly. Those two can smash any ordinary ambush head-on. Then give swift cavalry to Zhang Fei and Gao Shun and have them lie in ambush around the supply routes. The moment those rats poke their heads out to bite, we crack their skulls from behind."
Lu Zhi furrowed his brow at my plan.
"...But isn't that just using small detachments as bait? Far too risky."
As Lu Zhi hesitated, Liu Bei, who had been listening quietly, stepped forward.
"Teacher. Please heed the Cavalry Commander's words this once. Not because they're my brothers, but because their valor is unmatched. His officers won't lag behind them either. Better to carve a path this way than sit here and starve to death, no?"
At Liu Bei's plea, Lu Zhi stared at me for a long moment before finally deciding.
"...Very well. Your counsel has never steered us wrong, and I'll trust Hyun-deok's judgment too. I grant the Cavalry Commander full authority!"
"My thanks, General!"
The surrounding officers were filled with worry, but I felt none at all.
Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhang Liao, Gao Shun? If anything, I pitied the fools who'd get obliterated.
A month later, the landscape around the supply routes had completely changed.
On a dusty yellow road shrouded in haze, hundreds of rebel cavalry charged from all sides toward dozens of supply wagons, howling war cries.
"Kill 'em all and loot everything!"
"Just burn those wagons!"
"Hiiik!"
"Rebels!"
Terror flashed across the faces of the soldiers guarding the convoy. That's when the red-faced man at the front of the wagon train slowly opened his eyes.
"Such a racket."
With that quiet murmur, the Green Dragon Crescent Blade in Guan Yu's hand flashed.
—SLASH!
The six or seven leading riders were bisected along with their horses, not even managing a scream.
Blood sprayed like fountains, and the followers recoiled in horror, wheeling their mounts. But in that instant, a roar erupted from the opposite side.
"Where do you think you're running?!"
Zhang Liao's spear cleaved the air.
—Slash! Slash! Thunk!
The spear tip sought only throats and hearts.
Each swing sent what looked like enemy commanders tumbling from their saddles.
"Eek! What the hell are these guys?!"
"Th-the chieftain's down! Run!"
Guan Yu held the line, Zhang Liao picked off the leaders.
No words passed between them, yet they moved like veterans of decades together.
Where Guan Yu's blade swept, everything was sliced and shattered. Wherever Zhang Liao's spear pointed, no commanders survived.
The rebels finally lost heart and turned tail.
Meanwhile, in the woods at another pass.
"There! The supply train's coming!"
Hundreds more rebel cavalry spotted another convoy, eyes gleaming with greed as they charged. The moment they closed in, swords drawn—
A earth-shaking roar burst from the forest.
"You filthy rats dare?!"
—RAAARGH!
Zhang Fei burst out swinging his serpent halberd. His strikes were monstrous.
Where the eight-foot polearm swept, foes exploded, tumbling across the ground.
—Crunch!
Bones shattered, limbs flew through the air.
"Gaaah!"
"A-ambush! It's a trap!"
As the rebels panicked, seeking escape, Gao Shun's cavalry appeared from the opposite side.
"Let none escape. Kill them all!"
"Yes, Colonel! Don't let a single one get away!"
"Men of Bing Province don't spare enemies!"
At Gao Shun's cold command, the cavalry formed a perfect encirclement, systematically butchering the scattering rebels.
This merciless hunt repeated for a month, and the rebels never approached the supply lines again.
The strategy meeting reconvened.
The atmosphere had flipped entirely. Lu Zhi read the reports with a satisfied expression.
"Heh, I thought you were just a battle whiz... Turns out you read people just as well."
Even Gaphun rarely nodded in agreement at the praise.
"The Cavalry Commander's insight was spot on."
"The credit belongs to them, not me."
As I spoke, Jongwon clapped my shoulder.
"Hahaha, knowing where to place men is a commander's merit too. Why so humble? At this rate, you'll outrank me soon."
I just smiled as the warm mood settled in. Then a soldier burst into the hall, breathless.
"General! There's a man outside the gates—says he's an envoy from Han Sui, requesting an audience!"
At that name, all laughter in the hall died.
Lu Zhi's face hardened, eyes shifting to the scattered documents and him.
Han Sui's envoy entered the grand hall.
Unlike expectations, he neither cowered nor strutted; he prostrated deeply before Lu Zhi with proper decorum.
In a near-tearful voice, the envoy began spilling Han Sui and Bian Zhang's tale of woe.
"Left General! Advisor Han and the Shinan Magistrate harbor no intent to betray the Han! But the previous governor, Zuo Cang, out of jealousy, irrationally ordered a field battle. Captured by the enemy, they feign loyalty to the rebels out of necessity!"
He banged his forehead on the floor, continuing.
"We know our crimes warrant the extermination of our clans under the stern national laws. But if you pardon us, considering our plight, we'll risk our lives to rise from within and strike North Palace Boyu from behind. Seize that moment to advance your army, and the rebels will crumble under attack from both sides!"
I watched the envoy silently.
Lu Zhi drummed his fingers on the table—tap, tap—without a word. After a long pause, he spoke.
"Understood. Withdraw for now."
The moment the envoy left, the hall erupted. Gaphun spoke first.
His voice rang with conviction.
"General, we must accept! Han Sui and Bian Zhang were renowned warriors of Yang Province, loyal Han servants. Their words ring true. Promise their pardon now, and they'll be a great asset."
But another colonel immediately countered.
"Commander Han-yang's thinking is naive! True loyalists wouldn't surrender and serve as enemy puppets—they'd prove it with death! How can we trust beggars pleading for life? It's an obvious trap!"
With arguments deadlocked, Lu Zhi voiced his dilemma in a heavy tone.
"If Han-yang is right and they turn, we could crush even 100,000 foes. But if it's a trap as others say... we'd suffer irreparable losses. Their motives are deeply suspect; it's a hard call."
Amid the fierce debate, I kept my eyes closed. The clamor faded into the distance.
'Han Sui... Han Sui...'
I desperately rummaged through my past life's memories.
The name rang a faint bell, but whether he was trustworthy? Nothing came up.
I remembered Cao Cao, Liu Bei, Yuan Shu, Yuan Shao, Sun Jian crystal clear, but some frontier general? No reason I would.
Damn. If only something clicked now, I could drop a cool line.
In the end, my info matched theirs.
Better to stay silent than step up and spout nonsense pretending to know.
"....."
No one rushed to conclude, and heavy silence blanketed the hall.
Gaphun sighed in frustration; the other colonels kept their suspicious glares.
Then, breaking the long quiet, Lu Zhi finally spoke.
"Cavalry Commander. What do you think?"
Ah...