Conquest of Jiangdong (1)
Seven fights, seven draws.
The battle between Sun Ce and Taishi Ci was a razor-thin stalemate, neither giving an inch.
For a moment, the subordinates of the Sun Ce and Liu Yao armies watching the duel had forgotten to breathe, the suspense was so crushing. The dead-even bloodbath fought with a heavy greatsword and a pair of sharp short halberds struck the officers and men with staggering impact.
"Well? Ready to consider surrender yet?"
"Shut it! My answer hasn't changed. I will never bow to the rebels who invaded Jiangdong!"
A fortress barely better than a perimeter wall.
A remnant army of no more than five thousand.
Reinforcements would come from nowhere.
The local gentry of Wu Prefecture and Danyang Prefecture had already sworn allegiance to Liu Chong's army.
The forces opposing Liu Chong's occupation had scattered across Jiangdong. Yet Sun Ce merely shrugged at Taishi Ci's display of loyalty and integrity in the face of such hopeless isolation.
"First, take the grain. I know your men have been starving inside the city, so don't bother refusing."
"You dare... to pity us...!"
"What pity? I just don't feel like fighting you when you're starved, worn out, and completely spent."
"Tch!"
Wagons piled mountain-high with military provisions appeared. It was the food Sun Ce had brought to relieve the starving soldiers of Liu Yao's army.
You dare.
You dare to pity us.
Compassion and pity from a sworn enemy were the most shameful of humiliations.
Taishi Ci glared at her worthy opponent, burning with a shame close to fury. She wanted to torch the wagons on the spot, but as Sun Ce had said, the officers and men isolated in Guzhang City had been starving for days. She had no choice but to swallow her rage and shame for the moment.
If they didn't eat, they would die.
Without pride or self-respect,
she would starve to death, nothing but a walking corpse with skin stretched over bone.
She would not turn her back on her starving subordinates' suffering out of stubbornness and pride. Taishi Ci immediately ordered her men to haul in the wagons.
"Hmph hmph hmph."
"Tch! What is that laugh?!"
"I wondered what I'd do if you kept ranting about loyalty and spirit to the bitter end... I worried for nothing. Mm, yes. Your men's lives come before any future reputation. That's a commander's duty, isn't it?"
"..."
You really are a worthwhile one.
Naturally.
She is the warrior woman of Jiangdong I acknowledged, after all.
Sun Ce spoke with a cackle.
At that, Taishi Ci's face flushed red and she turned her head away.
"Our forces have seized Wu Prefecture and Danyang Prefecture. Hua Xin, the Governor of Yuzhang who governed Yuzhang Prefecture, also surrendered. Word is that Yan Baihu and Yan Yu, who resisted to the end, fled to Kuaiji Prefecture."
"That was fast..."
"Our policy was to conquer Jiangdong as quickly as possible."
"So Jiangdong falls into the hands of rebels after all."
It was crumbling helplessly.
It was no different from a replay of Tao Qian's army losing Xu Province in a single stroke.
It was mortifying and bitter.
For Jiangdong to collapse so futilely.
Taishi Ci felt the humiliating sense of powerlessness as a mere officer under the Governor of Danyang.
"Ah."
As if she had just remembered something,
Sun Ce clapped her hands together and let out a small exclamation.
"The Crown Prince is coming, I'm told."
"What...?"
Rumble rumble rumble──.
No sooner had the words fallen than a great roar echoed out.
Dust clouds blanketed the wide-open plain.
The resounding bellow of horn calls urged a forced march.
Liu Seong-hwi had driven the Jiangdong rebels, including Yan Baihu and Yan Yu, south into Kuaiji Prefecture. He had left the front temporarily in the hands of the Left General Sun Jian and returned to Guzhang City.
* * *
Your rank and safety will be guaranteed.
Furthermore, you will receive due courtesies as a cadet imperial clan member.
Resistance is reckless bravado alone.
The Jiangdong warlords have already scattered.
Surrender, if only for the sake of the loyal subordinates who have remained with you to the last.
An autographed letter was sent in a very grave tone, like an ultimatum delivered to the Governor of Danyang Liu Yao. After witnessing it, Liu Yao's army was in great dread, realizing their fate would soon be decided.
Creeeak-.
How long had passed?
The city gate opened.
"I offer the Official Seal and Command Tally of the Governor of Danyang, granted by the Han Imperial House and the Imperial Court. I will gladly accept any punishment or humiliation now... but please spare the officers and men of Danyang Prefecture who followed me to the very end."
The complexion of the cadet imperial clan member who had suffered string after string of crushing defeats was as haggard as a living corpse. Liu Yao prostrated himself on his knees alongside his officers, presenting his Official Seal and Command Tally.
Zhang Ying. Xue Li.
And Taishi Ci.
The five thousand soldiers who had followed Liu Yao laid their weapons down.
In the end, they had no choice but to surrender to the rebels who invaded Jiangdong. A dark, complicated misery filled the eyes of Liu Yao's officers and men, along with a current of relief at having survived a desperate, fatal predicament.
"How can a relative of the Imperial House kneel? The renown of the Governor of Danyang is well known to me. From now on, govern the people of Jiangdong under His Highness the King of Chen. Your Official Seal and Command Tally will be returned to you."
A descendant of Emperor Gao of Han's eldest son, King of Qi Liu Bei.
Liu Yao was a cadet imperial clan member of upright and astute character, held in respect by numerous famous scholars. Treating such a figure with disrespect would invite a severe backlash.
I helped the haggard-looking Liu Yao to his feet.
Then I reassigned the disarmed officers and men of Liu Yao's army to serve under my command.
"Hold on! That makes me your senior now, doesn't it? Do well from now on, lion. I'll work you hard."
"Tch! Ye-yes, understood..."
Sun Ce spoke in a bantering tone and clapped Taishi Ci on her own back. Taishi Ci grimaced.
It was a deeply unpleasant and embarrassing situation.
To serve under that blockhead as my superior.
But what could she do?
Her lord had decided to surrender.
It was to save the officers and men under his command.
Taishi Ci nodded, accepting it as her duty to carry out her lord's resolute will.
"I have heard rumors of a fierce general who represents Jiangdong. I also heard you fought the General Who Attacks Rebels Sun Ce to a deadlock..."
"...You flatter me."
Liu Seong-hwi.
Greatest Archer Under Heaven.
The Southern Heir.
A usurper threatening the Han Imperial House and the Imperial Court.
Facing the cadet imperial clan member who had declared usurpation, Taishi Ci was overcome by complicated emotions.
He was the main culprit who had forced Liu Yao's army into submission alongside the countless petty powers of Jiangdong. Though Taishi Ci felt anger and wariness toward Liu Seong-hwi, she also felt a trace of gratitude: he had guaranteed the safety of her lord, who had surrendered for the sake of his men, and had shown him the courtesies due a relative of the Han Imperial House.
"I shall appoint you Enemy-Repelling General. Lead the officers and men of Danyang origin who surrendered at Guzhang City."
"I will comply with the order."
Enemy-Repelling General.
She was appointed general right after surrendering.
It was a bitter and sad affair.
To be appointed general thanks to her lord's capitulation.
If Liu Chong's army had not invaded Jiangdong, she would probably still be stuck in some low-ranking post.
She was essentially a beneficiary of the invasion.
As if to prove it, she received preferential treatment.
Liu Seong-hwi knew of Taishi Ci's prowess as a one-woman army and promised her extraordinary terms. For now, he assigned her as Enemy-Repelling General in charge of training the troops, but eventually he intended to appoint her Captain of the Guard, commanding his personal infantry.
"I heard it from the General Who Attacks Rebels. So you are the peerlessly valiant lion of Jiangdong? Is it because your name means lion? Though as I know it, your surname is Taishi and your given name is Ci... Was I mistaken?"
"Th-that's right! My given name is Ci."
Lion.
It was a sobriquet that would move any general who revered the martial path.
The lion, a beast symbolizing overwhelming presence and majesty by the tribal kingdoms of the Western Regions, had become widely known when they offered one in tribute to the Han Imperial Court. Any other general might have been deeply moved by the epithet 'Lion of Jiangdong,' but Taishi Ci, who was constantly misunderstood because of her name, was the exception.
"For now, take the troops under your command and stand by in Yuzhang Prefecture. I will issue orders later."
"Yes!"
Now I would mobilize the entire army and wipe out the Jiangdong warlords who had fled to Kuaiji Prefecture. Liu Seong-hwi ordered Taishi Ci to defend Yuzhang Prefecture in order to keep Liu Yao's surrendered troops away from the front line.
I can give her a chance to earn merits later.
Liu Seong-hwi glanced at Taishi Ci's long, shapely thighs wrapped in black leather breeches, then turned his gaze toward Sun Ce.
"Ce'er."
"Yes, Your Highness."
The remnants led by Yan Baihu and Yan Yu had been driven into Kuaiji Prefecture. Now that Liu Yao's army had been made to surrender, and his flank had been secured, it was time to commit all forces that had entered Jiangdong to the encirclement net around Kuaiji.
I entrust the vanguard to you.
Annihilate the Jiangdong remnants.
It was meant to display the overwhelming martial power of Sun Ce, who would later be called the Little Conqueror, to the world. Discerning that every warlord in the Central Plains was watching the success or failure of the Jiangdong conquest, Liu Seong-hwi entrusted Sun Ce with this crucial role.
"Once Jiangdong is pacified, I will grant you the official post of Governor of Yang Province."
"Wha—you mean the governorship?! How could I possibly be Governor of Yang Province...! I am only accompanying the campaign to be of even the slightest help to Your Highness's great cause, and absolutely not out of any personal ambition. I am truly grateful for your offer... but I dare think that such a post is more suited to my father or uncles, rather than myself!"
Governor of Yang Province.
I had promised her the status of a warlord commanding all Jiangdong.
Sun Ce flinched in shock at the sudden proposal, yet her stance was one of profound unworthiness.