Annihilation
"If word has come that fifty thousand troops have reached Wanping, the scouts will already have reported it to the general holding Wengcheng after his retreat—and the spies of Xiliang and Nanyan will certainly have carried the news as well. There is nothing to fear from Nanyan. But Yun Paxing, brimming as he is with ambition, is another matter entirely."
Bai Jingyan raised her hand and pointed to the winding mountain road of Jiuqu Peak that lay between Wengcheng and Wanping.
"If I were Yun Paxing, commanding a powerful army—and if I learned that fifty thousand Jin reinforcements had arrived at Wanping, a mere day's hard march from Wengcheng—I would send a portion of my forces around Wengshan to lie in ambush first along the treacherous, twisting path of Jiuqu Peak. Then I would lead a small contingent and launch a feigned attack on Wengcheng.
The fifty thousand Jin troops will push through the night, desperate to relieve Wengcheng. With speed of the essence, they cannot afford to take the long way around; they will have no choice but to pass along that winding road of Jiuqu Peak. Soldiers rushing so urgently to the rescue will be utterly spent by then—and at that moment, the Xiliang army lying in wait will slaughter every last one of the Jin reinforcements!"
Zhang Danyue turned to study the map, his finger tracing the Nine-Bend Curve.
"To get from Wanping to Wengcheng quickly... there's no way around it—they must take the mountain road over Jiuqu Peak!"
Bai Jingyan nodded, then pointed to Wengcheng once more.
"The Bai Family Army that fell back to defend Wengcheng, combined with the garrison already stationed there, comes to twenty thousand men. Wengcheng is easy enough to hold, but difficult to storm.
But suppose the general and soldiers of Wengcheng learn that the Xiliang army has tied down the fifty thousand Jin reinforcements at Jiuqu Peak—and suppose they further learn that the Xiliang forces suddenly abandoning their siege intend to pass through the great canyon of Wengshan to rendezvous with the main army and annihilate those reinforcements together! Then General Cheng Yuanzhi of the Bai family, whose valor is renowned far and wide, will never sit quiet behind those walls. He will lead the Bai Family Army out to relieve them at Jiuqu Peak, without question. And at that point, the Xiliang army waiting in ambush at Wengshan will be able to slaughter the remaining Bai forces to the last man."
Shi Panshan stared at the map in astonishment, then jabbed a finger at Wengshan.
"Wengshan is also called Xuanfeng Mountain—Whirlwind Mountain. Looked down upon from the heights, its ridgelines spiral upward from low ground to high like a whirlwind. The great canyon of Wengshan cuts through a gap in those ridges. Approaching from the direction of Wengcheng along the winding road of Jiuqu Peak, the valley mouth is flat and broad when you enter—but by the time you come out, the mountains on either side rise sheer and the exit narrows to a squeeze where barely ten men could stand abreast. It is a perfect killing ground for an ambush!"
"And so—"
Bai Jingyan turned to the Crown Prince.
"Your Highness, this evening give General Zhang Danyue command of five thousand elite soldiers and order him to the twisting road of Jiuqu Peak to set an ambush first. If the Xiliang hidden troops appear, he need do no more than quietly ascertain their numbers and return to report—the soldiers themselves are not to move a muscle.
Then give General Shi Panshan fifteen thousand men and have him lie in wait at the Jiuqu Peak exit of the Wengshan canyon. Tomorrow he will strike in concert with the Bai Family Army coming to the rescue from Wengcheng, attacking from both sides. General Zhen Zeping will lead twenty thousand troops to assault Fengxian. Under no circumstances may the Nanyan soldiers be allowed to leave their city.
And send word to Pingyang City. Order the forces garrisoned there to retake Fengcheng and block the Xiliang reinforcements. Command five hundred soldiers to carry incendiary materials around behind the main Xiliang camp and burn their grain stores to the ground. Finally, a checkpoint must be erected at Camel Hump Canyon to sever the flow of Xiliang provisions entirely."
The woman's voice—crisp and composed—was swift yet steady. The moment she finished, everyone in the tent went taut with tension. It felt as though war might erupt at any instant.
The candle flames inside the command tent flickered gently. The place was utterly still.
"And what if Xiliang knows full well that our fifty thousand have arrived for the reinforcement, but holds back out of fear that Nanyan will draw a blade at its back—or out of reluctance to see Nanyan sit idle and reap the rewards while they bleed? What if they simply refuse to move from Tianmenguan?"
Zhen Zeping asked, his brow furrowed.
"Or what if Xiliang masses its entire force and throws everything at Wengcheng? And Pingyang City borders Great Yan besides—the troops stationed there cannot be moved lightly. You did once campaign alongside Duke Guo, Lady Bai, and your archery is superb, but you're still young, aren't you? All of this is nothing more than your speculation, isn't it? I say the right course is for me to lead cavalry and strike at the Xiliang nest directly."
"When two nations go to war, the commander-in-chief is the head of the serpent. If you wish for victory, you must know what the head of the enemy's army desires. Yun Paxing is a man who once wrote an unbroken legend of invincibility. The army he leads is called the Rushing Cavalry. Yet against the Bai Family Army alone, he has known only defeat—and Yun Paxing counts that as the greatest humiliation of his entire life.
Then came his alliance with Nanyan, and in one stroke he exterminated every man of the Zhenguo Duke Estate, very nearly wiping out the Bai Family Army as well. That was how, at last—after such agonizing effort—he won a single victory.
The Bai Family Army still has ten thousand men remaining. Yun Paxing fears that army the way a small child fears his father, and there is no one in the world who does not know it. Right now, he must feel as though a barb is caught in his throat. Which is why he will try to destroy the undefeated Bai Family Army before this war reaches its end—so that the black-cloth White Python Banner may never rise again in this world."
"I believe Lady Bai is right, Your Highness!"
Zhang Danyue said to the Crown Prince.
The Crown Prince had not grasped it at all. He acknowledged that Bai Jingyan was remarkable. But as Zhen Zeping said, she was still young. Was she not lacking in the seasoned campaign experience and cunning of a marshal like Zhenguo Duke?
"Let me think a while longer... a while longer."
The Crown Prince frowned. A headache was closing in on him.
Bai Jingyan knew perfectly well. Though she was a descendant of the Bai family, granddaughter of Bai Weiting the Zhenguo Duke, and the one who had taken the head of an enemy grand general—still, the Crown Prince and the generals would believe that everything she had done while on campaign and in battle had merely been the result of following the counsel of her elders.
Which meant the Crown Prince was quite likely to ignore her counsel in this war.
She had concealed the true intentions of the Xiliang army and waited until they reached Wanping to propose convening the accompanying generals for a war council for several reasons.
The first was to let the Crown Prince and the generals witness her ability firsthand, so that she might have a voice in military affairs hereafter.
The second was to deny the Crown Prince and the generals time to contrive schemes of their own. Before tomorrow's battle unfolded, she had to find a way to make contact with what remained of the Bai Family Army.
The third was the Haoying Battalion, which might still be lingering at Wanping.
The Haoying Battalion of the Bai Family Army was a cavalry force peerless in mountain ambush warfare. With a single rope they could descend sheer cliffs; so fierce and valorous were they that they were named the Tiger-Hawk Battalion.
She had learned that the Haoying Battalion still survived in her past life, while working for the Liang King. She had discovered that the Yu Prefecture Commander had two cavalry units under his command—cavalry that men called heaven-sent. Though she had never once laid eyes on them, Bai Jingyan had been certain that both of those cavalry battalions were the Haoying Battalion in its entirety.
The Haoying Battalion had been created by Bai Jingyan's fourth great-uncle, Bai Jiqing, who excelled in mountain warfare and commanded them directly. In the campaign records, her grandfather had ordered her fourth great-uncle to lead twenty thousand troops around Fengxian and storm the Xiliang camp. Her fourth great-uncle was so cautious by nature that he could never have taken the whole Haoying Battalion with him.
If the Haoying Battalion survived, it would be at Wengcheng—or here in Wanping, where they now stood.
On this Southern Border campaign, the Crown Prince had needed to make use of her, and at the same time to keep her in check. Unless circumstances absolutely forced his hand, he would never permit Bai Jingyan to move the Bai Family Army.
But if he did not follow the strategy she had laid out this evening—if he waited until word arrived from Wengcheng tomorrow to even consider the ambush along the Jiuqu Peak road...
By then the situation would have shifted again, and the ground would be lost to them. Wengcheng's plight was desperate. The Crown Prince would have to choose one of two things: follow her counsel, or lose Wengcheng.
And yet—the Crown Prince could not afford to lose, either.
Bai Jingyan bowed her head with composure and spoke in a tone of gentle counsel.
"Your Highness, an opportunity like this comes only once and will never come again! You must decide swiftly!"
"You have all been wearying yourselves since morning. Go back and rest. I will think on it further."
The Crown Prince replied.
When she stepped out of the command tent, cold moonlight lay over Wanping City. Apart from the two lanterns burning before the tent door, only a scattered household or two showed any light.
"Big sister!"
Bai Jinchi had come out to meet her.
"Is it finished? Is the Crown Prince going to send troops?"
Bai Jingyan shook her head.
"He brought you along to devise strategy and countermeasures—why won't he listen to what you say?"
Anxiety gnawed at Bai Jinchi.
"The last ten thousand of the Bai Family Army at Wengcheng—we can't afford to lose them too. If you think the Haoying Battalion is still here at Wanping, then perhaps—"
"Young Master Bai!"
Zhang Danyue hurried after them and bowed to Bai Jingyan. Bai Jinchi swallowed the rest of her words and stepped aside to stand with Xiao Ruohai.
"His Highness seems unlikely to move the main army this evening, no matter what you say, Young Master Bai. But in a little while I will come around again and make the proposal once more. If we let slip this rare opportunity—might you have some other countermeasure, Young Master Bai?"
Bai Jingyan returned his bow and stood straight as a blade as she answered.
"If General Zhang could tell me where the Bai Family Army's Haoying Battalion is to be found—then I might very well have one."
At the word Haoying Battalion, Bai Jinchi's eyes blazed as she stared at Zhang Danyue. Her heart swelled in her chest.
Zhang Danyue pressed his lips together.
Before they had left Dadu, the Emperor had summoned Zhang Danyue and the Crown Prince before the throne with a repeated admonition: they might follow Bai Jingyan's strategies, but Bai Jingyan must never be allowed to meet with the Bai Family Army.
The Haoying Battalion had all but been lost now—barely two hundred men remained of it.
The training methods of the Bai Family Army's Haoying Battalion were held solely by Bai Jiqing, the fifth son of Bai Weiting, and no one else knew them. The Emperor's will was plain: preserve the Haoying Battalion by any means necessary and extract their training methods. Hereafter, these men were to be set to the task of raising brave elite soldiers like the Haoying Battalion for the benefit of Great Jin.
Looking into Bai Jingyan's calm, untroubled eyes, Zhang Danyue hesitated for a long while, as though something weighed on his conscience—then finally shook his head.
"I don't know."
Even if Zhang Danyue would not tell her, there was more than one way to find out.
The Bai family had built the Bai Family Army. Which meant there existed a means of communication that could never be divulged to outsiders.
Bai Jingyan bowed to Zhang Danyue once more.
"Then I ask that you, General Zhang, persuade His Highness the Crown Prince."
Bai Jinchi held her tongue until she and Bai Jingyan had entered their room and shut the door behind them.
"Big sister, the Bai Family Army can pass messages with the bone whistles! Let's try it—we might just find the Haoying Battalion!"
In every camp of the Bai Family Army, roughly ten men carried bone whistles, by which secret orders could be relayed.
It was a method for transmitting commands in the field without the enemy ever learning that troop dispositions had changed—more covert even than signal flags. But the bone whistle could only be used at a moment when every second hung in the balance, never otherwise.
"You go and make contact. There's no need to meet them face to face."
Bai Jingyan waited impatiently for tomorrow to come. She flung open the wooden chest that held her silver armor.
"All we need to learn is whether the Haoying Battalion is here in Wanping. And you must be very careful."
"Understood!"
Bai Jinchi hurried out of the room, flushed with excitement.