Conquering the South (1)
Thanks to the desperate fighting of General Who Attacks Rebels Sun Ce, the Jiangdong remnant forces and Shanyue troops encamped on Mount Kuaiji disintegrated into a worthless mob in a single moment.
A monster.
A savage monster was dyeing the battlefield crimson with blood.
A heavy greatsword and a sharp ring-pommel saber.
Brandishing a weapon in each hand, she repeated a gruesome slaughter.
Countless Shanyue chieftains, led by Wu Tu, faced Sun Ce and lost their lives. Having witnessed the scene before their eyes, the Shanyue warriors scattered in terror and began to flee.
"A monster! It's a monster!"
"Aaaagh! The monster is coming!!"
Five thousand.
Sun Ce's forces numbered only five thousand.
Yet the vast army of tens of thousands, having experienced strength equal to ten thousand, lost its will to fight and shrank back.
We can't win.
We're all fated to die.
That blood-soaked monster will butcher us all.
The forces of the Shanyue chieftains who fell in the decisive clash collapsed. As the soldiers scattered piecemeal, the chaos on the battlefield accelerated.
Moreover,
Boom—! Boom—! Boom—! Boom—!
A menacing drumbeat resounded.
It was thundering from all sides.
Liu Chong's army, which had encircled every road on Mount Kuaiji, mobilized its drums to apply pressure. Forced to realize once more that they were surrounded on all sides by a vast host, the Shanyue soldiers froze, gripping their weapons.
"General! The enemy commander is fleeing!"
"How dare they!"
Thunk—
Sun Ce reversed her grip on her ring-pommel saber.
Then, together with her subordinates, she hurled the blade at Chieftain Shang Gu, who was fleeing in a breathless panic.
"Gurghaak!!"
The sharp tip pierced through his back and burst out through his chest. Impaled through the body in an instant, Shang Gu collapsed, screaming a horrible death cry.
Butchery.
It was close to a one-sided butchery.
A slaughter supported by utterly overwhelming force unfolded across the whole region of Mount Kuaiji.
"General Huang Gai! The bastards are coming down the slope!"
"Engage them! Do not let a single one escape!"
Deserters fleeing the battlefield began to descend the slopes.
But what awaited the deserters was Liu Chong's army, which had sealed off the paths.
Cheng Pu. Han Dang. Huang Gai. Zu Mao.
The veteran commanders of the Wu Prefecture Sun Clan met them in battle.
No matter which slope they took, they had to face Liu Chong's army. Mount Kuaiji, once considered a natural iron fortress, had been reduced to a noose holding tens of thousands of soldiers in place.
"They're coming down! Fire!"
"No mercy for the barbarians who've raided Yang Province all this time! Kill them all!!"
A Shanyue force numbering in the thousands descended the slope. It was the army of the mountain chief Huang Lan, who had joined the battle at the request of Governor of Wu Prefecture Xu Gong and Governor of Kuaiji Wang Lang.
Huang Lan.
He was a figure of considerable infamy even among the Shanyue chieftains.
A giant of a man carrying a heavy axe revealed himself. The instant he was sighted, the southern archers and crossbowmen already lying in ambush at the foot of the mountain launched a volley.
"Urgh!"
Hundreds of arrows pierced the giant's body.
The same was true of the other soldiers.
Not a single Shanyue warrior who had come down the slope survived.
"Surrender...! I'll throw down my weapon and surrender!"
"We merely followed the Governor of Wu Prefecture, that's all!"
The Shanyue reinforcements, their sole hope of victory, had been annihilated. The officers and soldiers of Wu Prefecture and Kuaiji Prefecture, suffering successive crushing defeats, trembled at the screams echoing from all directions and declared their intent to surrender.
Their fighting spirit was completely shattered.
As if to prove it, the routed soldiers threw down their weapons without hesitation.
"Accept the surrender of the officers and men from Wu and Kuaiji, but kill every Shanyue who's made a name for themselves plundering throughout Jiangdong. I will release the pent-up rage and resentment of the common people who've been enduring this."
"As you command!"
Liu Seong-hwi issued the order with a gesture.
And so, thousands of Shanyue warriors were buried alive in the valleys of Mount Kuaiji.
"General Who Attacks Rebels has seized the summit of Mount Kuaiji! The Shanyue forces are isolated, unable to descend the ridge, and it is reported that Governor of Wu Prefecture Xu Gong and Governor of Kuaiji Wang Lang have been captured alive!"
"Following Qu'a Port, she has accomplished a fine deed at Mount Kuaiji."
Sun Ce and Zhou Yu had seized Mount Kuaiji.
It was a supreme report of victory, achieved with a mere five thousand troops.
Once today's victory becomes known, the fame of the Little Conqueror will surely shake the whole world beyond Jiangdong. Just as he had made Liu Bei a war hero in the Xu Province campaign, Liu Seong-hwi intended to make Sun Ce a war hero in the Yang Province campaign.
* * *
Pan Lin was dead.
The overlord of the Shanyue had perished on the battlefield.
Sun Ce threw the giant's blood-soaked, bushy head at their feet. The instant they confirmed Pan Lin's horribly contorted face, Governor of Wu Prefecture Xu Gong and Governor of Kuaiji Wang Lang screamed in mortal terror and collapsed backward.
"Aaaargh!"
"I'll surrender! I'll obediently surrender, so spare me!"
Pan Lin, called the Monster of the South, lost his head while begging for his life. Having witnessed this, Xu Gong and Wang Lang knelt and implored Sun Ce for at least a crumb of mercy.
Hmm.
What to do.
Sun Ce raised her heavy greatsword and let out a thoughtful murmur.
At that, Zhou Yu, who was beside her, interjected.
"Weren't there orders to capture the Governor of Wu Prefecture and the Governor of Kuaiji alive?"
"I know that. I just... forgot for a moment."
No,
In truth, she had meant to kill them in the chaos of battle.
These were bastards who, instead of peacefully surrendering at Qu'a Port, fled as far as Kuaiji Prefecture and brought in frontier barbarians as reinforcements. The wretches who'd been an obstacle for His Highness the Crown Prince for days naturally deserved to die.
I should've just killed them fast.
Sun Ce clicked her tongue as if expressing regret.
"Even if we can accept it for the elder Wang Lang, who is trusted and respected by the famed scholars of the age..., is there any need to keep alive an opportunist who ousted the former Governor of Wu Prefecture and stole the post? It would be more beneficial to get rid of him here."
Unlike Wang Lang, who had been appointed Governor of Kuaiji by the Han Imperial House and the Imperial Court, Xu Gong, originally a member of the local gentry of Wu Prefecture, was nothing more than a scoundrel who had driven out Governor Sheng Xian and snatched the official's hat.
There was no reason to keep a scoundrel alive.
And this was all the more true because Xu Gong was the one who had summoned the frontier Shanyue as reinforcements.
"That is for His Highness the Crown Prince to decide. It is not a matter for us to judge, is it?"
Sun Ce's eyes were flashing with murderous intent.
The bloodlust she had given vent to while slaughtering countless lives had not yet subsided.
Zhou Yu sighed and dissuaded Sun Ce from making a rash judgment.
"I will take charge of the surrendered generals who gave themselves up on the battlefield."
"I'll leave it to you. I need to go wash my face first. I feel utterly filthy."
The clever one from the Lujiang Zhou Clan will handle it on his own.
Sun Ce entrusted the disposal of the prisoners entirely to Zhou Yu and turned away.
"I am Zhou Yu, General Who Establishes Might. His Highness the Crown Prince has instructed that if we encounter the Governor of Wu Prefecture and the Governor of Kuaiji on the battlefield, you are to be treated with the utmost hospitality. I will guarantee the safety of the captured officers and soldiers. Elders, please, first, pay your respects to His Highness."
With a respectful voice and proper etiquette befitting a young noble from a prestigious clan that had produced countless high officials, Zhou Yu calmed Wang Lang and Xu Gong, who had been filled with fear and bewilderment.
Wasn't this the exact opposite of Sun Jian's daughter, who radiated savage ferocity? Only then did Wang Lang and Xu Gong breathe a sigh of relief and accept Zhou Yu's offer.
"How could a defeated general refuse the request of the victor? If you guarantee the safety of the officers and men, I will do whatever you ask."
"Of course. Please, entrust the treatment of the wounded to us."
There was a need to refrain from extreme actions, even to win the hearts of the common people. Recalling how Liu Seong-hwi had treated the Governor of Danyang Liu Yao as an honored guest, Zhou Yu extended every courtesy to Wang Lang and Xu Gong.
* * *
Jiangdong had produced countless heroes until now, but unfortunately, it had never encountered a fine lord.
Chen Wen.
An indecisive figure lacking any sense of independence.
Liu Yao.
He possessed great fame and personal esteem but lacked leadership ability and capacity.
Wang Lang.
By choosing weak civil governance, he created a void in military strength.
Yan Baihu. Xu Gong.
They were merely local bullies who rode the chaotic times and led a pack of bandits.
In the end, Jiangdong was fated to be swallowed up by the warlord who had pacified Huaibei and Huainan. Even if Liu Chong's army, intent on usurping the Han Imperial House, had not invaded, it would eventually have been occupied by some other power.
"Master Zijing, what do you think of Liu Chong's forces?"
"...Well."
"After destroying Tao Qian's army and occupying Xu Province, they've now subjugated all the warlords of Jiangdong and conquered even Yang Province. Once they've seized supremacy in the south..., they will falsely claim the title of a new emperor."
"..."
The young emperor in Guanzhong, reduced to a traitor's puppet.
And the vassal king of Jiangbei, who now commanded the south.
The era of chaos, begun with the corruption of dark rulers and eunuchs, would reach a climax of extreme tension. The renowned scholars out of office watched the swirling currents of the mundane world, hesitating over which side to join.
"As Ziyang says..., I am truly troubled."
Silver hair tinged with a blue lustre, cascading like soft silk.
Two eyes gently closed as if in meditation.
A subtle smile lingered on the lips, imbued with profound meaning.
