Hidden Strength
Bai Jingyan pointed toward the abyss that lay between Jiuqu Peak and Wengshan.
"Next comes the Bai Family Army's Haoying Battalion. The Haoying Battalion has one exceptional ability — they can rig cable bridges between cliff faces to let a forced march pass through. Order the Haoying Battalion to depart at once, Your Highness. Command them to string cable bridges between the cliffs of Jiuqu Peak and Wengshan. Time is desperate, so tell them to lay as many as they possibly can!
"General Shi, General Zhen, and General Zhang will join forces to slaughter the bulk of the Xiliang army. Afterward, Generals Shi and Zhen must seal off the exit of the Jiuqu Peak gorge at Wengshan. General Zhang, positioned atop Jiuqu Peak, is to immediately lead the crossbowmen and close-combat soldiers across the cable bridges the Haoying Battalion strings between Jiuqu Peak and Wengshan, and take up ambush positions on the western side of the gorge where the Xiliang troops lie in wait. His task is to block the Xiliang main force from climbing up the western gorge and reinforcing the Xiliang troops trapped inside.
"I myself will lead troops and ambush the eastern side of the gorge, cutting off any Xiliang advance from the east. When Yun Paxing marches the Xiliang main force into the Wengshan gorge, General Shi Banshan and General Zhen Zeping will block the front, while the Bai Family Army and the twelve thousand elite soldiers who were lying in ambush at the entrance of the Wudan River close off the rear. Sheer cliffs wall them in on the left and right, and above them stand our Great Jin soldiers and the crossbowmen. Yun Paxing will be sealed inside with no road of escape.
"It would be no exaggeration to call this 'catching the turtle in the jar.' In this war, we must annihilate the entirety of the Xiliang main force between the Wengshan gorge and Jiuqu Peak. Only then will Xiliang be unable to attempt another invasion for at least three years — and only then can we truly frighten Nanyan and Xiliang alike."
In the quiet command tent, the candlelight trembled. The woman's calm, assured voice was swift yet steady.
Listening to her, Zhen Xiangzhi felt his chest swell until even his scalp went numb. With the forces they had on hand, he could find not a single flaw in Bai Jingyan's strategy.
He could state it with certainty: this war would become a magnificent one in which a small force overcame a vast army. And if Bai Jingyan surrendered the credit for this victory to the Crown Prince, the prince would be able to make his name with this single campaign.
Had this woman — the eldest legitimate daughter of the Bai family of the Zhenguo Duke Estate — laid out every one of these measures since last evening? Or had she improvised them today in response to Yun Paxing's movements?
When Zhen Xiangzhi recalled the strategy Bai Jingyan had presented to the Crown Prince yesterday alongside today's plan, he could only marvel at her.
Bai Weiting had long said that his eldest legitimate granddaughter was a general born, not made. At the time, Zhen Xiangzhi had assumed the Duke of Zhenguo was simply exaggerating — but now he could see that Bai Jingyan's title of Xiao Baixiu was, indeed, a name fully earned.
"So we are fighting Yun Paxing by turning his own scheme against him!"
Hearing Bai Jingyan's plan, Zhang Danyue could hardly contain his astonishment. His worry from moments before seemed to have been washed away like dust in the rain.
"All the labor Yun Paxing expended hauling his supplies up the mountain has become nothing but a gift to our Great Jin army!"
"A stratagem of sheer brilliance!"
Shi Panshan's admiration spilled over as well.
"If Yun Paxing learns that his own great army was killed and wounded by the very supplies he hid away on those peaks, I wager the fury will burn him up from the inside!"
The elderly strategist at the Crown Prince's side stroked his beard and gave a slow nod.
"It is a fine strategy, but… General Shi and General Zhen will be in grave danger. Especially when they emerge from the exit of Jiuqu Peak at Wengshan — that passage is barely wide enough for ten men to stand in single file."
"Where in war is there a place without danger?"
Shi Panshan, unable to tear his admiration away from Bai Jingyan, pressed on.
"This strategy minimizes the losses on our own side to the utmost! If we tried a frontal assault instead, fifty thousand men would be nothing to Yun Paxing but fodder! This Shi will not fear death in that passage!"
Bai Jingyan turned her gaze to Zhang Danyue.
"The most critical role in this war falls to the two thousand crossbowmen and one thousand close-combat soldiers under General Zhang's command. After sweeping the enemy from Jiuqu Peak, General Zhang must cross at once through the Wengshan gorge and hold its western side, giving Xiliang not a single opening. Only then will no trouble arise anywhere else."
"Understood!"
Zhang Danyue inclined his head.
"Your Highness."
Bai Jingyan looked to the Crown Prince.
"If you have no objection, give the order!"
The Crown Prince pressed his lips tightly together. Hesitation was written across his face.
Before they had set out, all he had wanted was for Bai Jingyan to devise a plan for him. Not once had he considered letting her lead troops.
Zhang Danyue dropped to one knee and raised his clasped fists in salute.
"Your Highness! Yesterday we already lost our chance to seize the initiative — today, we cannot afford to let another slip away! Your Highness, I beg you — give the order!"
Shi Panshan and Zhen Zeping likewise knelt and entreated the Crown Prince for his command.
"Young Master Bai's health is frail. Leading soldiers would be too much for him. Have someone else take his place," the Crown Prince said.
Zhang Danyue stared at the prince as though he could not believe his ears.
"Your Highness, Young Master Bai rode without rest the entire way here — his archery, even…"
Before Zhang Danyue could finish, the Crown Prince had already stepped forward to steady Bai Jingyan by the arm, speaking with elaborate courtesy.
"This war rests entirely upon Young Master Bai's schemes and dispositions. Only with Young Master Bai at Wanping can I keep my head when the unexpected occurs. Stay by my side, Young Master Bai. Only then can my heart be at ease!"
The Crown Prince's words seemed soaked through with sincerity. Had Bai Jingyan not been a woman, he looked ready to seize her hand on the spot and demonstrate just how genuine he was.
Bai Jingyan understood perfectly that the Crown Prince was checking her. That was why, even knowing he had no capable general to deploy, he refused to let her lead troops — and why, still more, he would never allow her to join forces with the Bai Family Army.
She had anticipated all of it, and yet Bai Jingyan could not suppress her disappointment in him.
The enemy they had to face today was the mighty Xiliang army, hundreds of thousands strong. Defeating a superior force with an inferior one was difficult enough under any circumstances — and here there were no capable generals to call upon, defeat would not be tolerated, and victory was the only acceptable outcome.
And even with the lives of soldiers and the fate of the realm at stake, she could not move him past his suspicion.
Bai Jingyan closed her eyes, pressed her disappointment in the imperial house firmly down, and bowed her head in a respectful reply.
"Then give your instructions quickly, Your Highness. I must return and change my clothes."
She had come straight from the training grounds to this tent, and the garments beneath her riding cloak were soaked through with sweat.
The Crown Prince had not expected Bai Jingyan to accept so neatly, and his heart grew noticeably lighter. He nodded.
"Yes, yes. You've worked hard, Young Master Bai. Go and change at once!"
As Bai Jingyan moved to leave, Zhen Xiangzhi's impatience got the better of him and he spoke in a rush.
"Your Highness — we must lure a portion of the Xiliang force to the mid-slopes of Wengshan, yet we have no way of knowing in advance how many men Xiliang will send, nor who will be leading them. Young Master Bai campaigned in the Southern Border under the King of Zhenguo and knows the terrain of Wengshan intimately. Only if Young Master Bai leads five thousand men in ambush can the strategy be carried out flawlessly!"
"Your Highness!"
Zhang Danyue rose as he spoke.
"I stake this head of mine and take the responsibility in Young Master Bai's stead — so I beg you, Your Highness… let Young Master Bai lead the troops!"
The only commanders of any use in this war were himself, Zhang Danyue, Zhen Zeping, Shi Panshan — and, once upon a time, Xiao Baixiu, Bai Jingyan.
Zhang Danyue knew full well that the Emperor and the Crown Prince regarded Bai Jingyan with suspicion. But this war was desperately urgent. To win with a small force, not a single step could be misstepped.
Bai Jingyan's strategy divided their troops into four columns, each led by a different commander. Bar any unforeseen variables, victory was certain. But without Bai Jingyan — the one who understood the situation at Wengshan best — the odds of a variable arising were dangerously high.
The Crown Prince saw Bai Jingyan gazing at him with calm, steady eyes that seemed unfathomably deep. It felt as though she were reading the fear he harbored toward the Bai family — toward her — and his heart began to pound faster.
The Crown Prince steadied himself once more and spoke.
"Young Master Bai is the one who commands the overall campaign. How could he risk himself by going to Wengshan? Only with Young Master Bai at Wanping will I panic less when something unforeseen occurs."
Simple-minded Zhen Zeping nodded along as though in agreement.
"His Highness speaks rightly."
Zhang Danyue clenched his teeth.
Zhen Xiangzhi wanted to press further, but Bai Jingyan had already paid her respects and gone. Watching her retreating figure, he let out a long, deep sigh.
Whoever general held the mid-slopes of Wengshan this time would have to annihilate the Xiliang main force — or all would be lost.
Outside the command tent, Bai Jinchi and Xiao Ruohai, who had been waiting, hurried to meet Bai Jingyan the moment she emerged.
"Big Sister! How did it go?" Bai Jinchi asked.
Bai Jingyan tightened her riding cloak and stepped over the tent's threshold. Standing beneath the lantern light, she gazed out over the jet-black Wanping Army and spoke.
"Just as I expected — His Highness the Crown Prince ordered me to remain at Wanping."
Fury surged up in Bai Jinchi; she wanted to storm straight to the Crown Prince that instant and demand answers. But at her eldest sister's words — just as I expected — she blinked and asked, half-lost.
"Then what do we do now, Sister?"
Everything had unfolded exactly as she had foreseen, and yet the thought of the innocent soldiers' lives that would have to be laid down weighed heavily on Bai Jingyan's heart. She descended the steps of the tent and walked toward the barracks, and only after a long while did she answer, head bowed.
"Go back and rest well. No later than this afternoon, it will be our turn to move."
Earlier, when the dispositions had been drawn up, it had been decided that Bai Jingyan would lead five thousand soldiers in ambush in the hollows of Wengshan's mid-slopes.
It was not because that position was safer than baiting the Xiliang soldiers into the gorge by feigning defeat, as Zhen Zeping and Shi Panshan would do. Quite the opposite.
The mid-slopes of Wengshan were the truly treacherous ground. The terrain there was not especially steep — much like the eastern side of the Wengshan gorge where the Xiliang troops lay hidden, both slopes were gentle inclines, easy enough to climb.
If they ambushed from the high ground of the mid-slopes and the two forces were roughly equal in number, a steady victory was all but assured. But if the enemy numbered several times their strength, the Xiliang commanders, driven to desperation, would order their soldiers to risk their lives — to shield themselves with their own bodies against the arrows and claw their way up.
Should even a single Xiliang unit seize the mid-slopes of Wengshan and then take the eastern side of the gorge as well, the Jin army inside the gorge — the weaker force — would unquestionably be in mortal peril.
Zhen Xiangzhi and Zhang Danyue knew the mid-slope terrain was complex. Unless it was led by a commander intimately familiar with that ground, the margin for error was great. Yet the Crown Prince still refused to let Bai Jingyan lead troops.
The mid-slopes of Wengshan — there, Bai Jingyan was confident. Among all the officers on this campaign, there was no one but her who could pin the Xiliang main force to that ground with a mere five thousand men.
She had fought the enemy there at Wengshan before. And her operative Xiao Ruogang had arrived ahead of her in the Southern Border and mapped out every inch of the terrain to perfection.
The map of Wengshan that Xiao Ruogang had delivered was in her hands now. Drawn in the Bai Family Army's own cartographic style, it was so meticulously detailed that even the contours of the mountain ridges were recorded — a map without equal in all the world.
Moreover, Xiao Ruogang had already thoroughly charted the temperaments and natures of every general under Yun Paxing's command. Bai Jingyan had passed him the intelligence she had gathered, piece by piece, along the road to the Southern Border, and so she knew even the marching habits of the Xiliang officers and men.
Know the enemy, know yourself — and in a hundred battles, a hundred victories!
THIS was Bai Jingyan's hidden strength!