Nanman (4): King Mulu's Beasts
The news that Meng Huo had been defeated even after borrowing King Tasha's strength reached all the way to Yunnan.
"They lost again?"
Lady Zhurong sighed at the report that Meng Huo had been defeated and retreated to the lands adjacent to Yunnan.
"...Yes. Fortunately, His Majesty has been released, but......"
"Haa, so if the enemy hadn't shown mercy, he would have died, is that it?"
"......"
At Lady Zhurong's words, Dailai Dongzhu, who had come to request reinforcements, could not lift his head.
Due to the successive defeats, Meng Huo's fame and standing as King of the Man had plummeted to the ground. It was only because Zhuge Liang had shown mercy that he kept his life. Had it been another tribal chief of Nanzhong as the opponent, Meng Huo's head would already have been hung on a pike.
Meng Huo was staking his life to throw himself at Zhuge Liang in order to repay the humiliation he had suffered.
"Did I not place you at the King's side precisely to prevent such things?"
"I am deeply sorry, Elder Sister."
I was a complete fool to think that leaving the support to my younger brother would somehow work out fine.
Certainly Meng Huo was the strongest in the Southern Man, and for his bulk he had some cunning as well. With her own younger brother Dailai Dongzhu, who was rather sharp, attached to him, she had thought there was no way they could lose.
But that was only by Southern Man standards. They could not stand against a strategist who soared with a grand vision for the realm and outstanding insight.
When he first fell into the enemy's trap after being lured, I thought it was carelessness.
But the second time, failing to notice the Shu army scaling the walls and even being betrayed by his subordinates, her thoughts changed. She had to admit that the enemy was no ordinary foe.
"What is the King doing now?"
His ally King Tasha and the friendly tribal chiefs having been crushed, he was left isolated and without support.
"He has requested aid from King Mulu."
"King Mulu?"
King Mulu, lord of Palnap Cave, stood in an adversarial relationship with Meng Huo. They were not mortal enemies, but among the Nanzhong chiefs their rapport was on the poorer side. This meant Meng Huo no longer had anyone left to turn to for help.
"It seems it is my turn to step forward."
Merely defending Yunnan would not do. Thinking it a wife's duty to aid her husband when he was in danger, Lady Zhurong rose from her seat.
Lady Zhurong claimed descent from Zhurong, one of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors and the god of fire. The reason the people of Nanzhong raised no objection to her claiming divine descent was simple. Because she was strong. Possessing martial arts among the top in the Southern Man as well as superb dagger-throwing skill, Meng Huo had entrusted Yunnan to her.
"But did His Majesty not order Elder Sister to guard Yunnan?"
"He did. But what use is that if we lose and my husband dies?"
The center of their power was Meng Huo, and there was no one to replace him. If Meng Huo died, the forces would collapse in the blink of an eye. Above all, no wife could rest easy with her beloved standing on the battlefield.
"Hurry the preparations for the expedition. We will go to aid my husband."
When Lady Zhurong ordered the sortie, the soldiers guarding Yunnan began to equip themselves. At that moment, someone stepped forward as if she had been waiting for it.
"Mother, please take me with you as well."
It was Meng Huaman, who had been ordered to guard Yunnan together with Lady Zhurong.
"...The battlefield is no place for play. Huaman, you stay quietly in Yunnan."
Though Meng Huo and then Lady Zhurong had ordered her to guard the castle, Meng Huaman did not back down.
"I too wish to aid Father. How can I sit still and merely guard the castle?"
"If you are taken prisoner, your father and I will have no choice but to surrender to Shu."
Children are the weakness of parents. With a beloved child captured, who could ignore that and fight the enemy?
"It is the same for me. If anything should befall the two of you, how could I go on?"
If the parents were captured, the child likewise could not endure without avenging them. Saying so, Meng Huaman had no intention of yielding her stubbornness this time either. Sensing that this obstinate appearance resembled herself, Lady Zhurong clutched her head.
......Just who does she take after to be so stubbornly strong-willed.
If Meng Huo had been here, he would have said she took after Lady Zhurong, but unfortunately he was not present.
"...Very well. But in return, you must not leave my side for even a moment."
Though Lady Zhurong had intended not to send her daughter to the battlefield after Meng Huo's earnest request, after much deliberation she finally permitted it.
"Yes!"
When she reluctantly allowed the expedition, a crescent smile formed at the corners of Meng Huaman's mouth. This expedition held many meanings for her. Helping Meng Huo crush the foreign enemies, and testing her own martial arts against unknown foes. And......
At last I can ride you across the battlefield.
Meng Huaman stroked with a gentle hand the horse she had received as a gift from her mother. The horse's eyes seemed to contain all of creation, and its sturdy red body radiated a sublime air. It had taken a full month and more to tame this fine steed, but once it galloped across the plains there was no beast that could catch it.
"Let us run together, Red Hare."
The red horse she was stroking had an especially large amount of curly hair.
"We march!"
Lady Zhurong and Meng Huaman led the soldiers and headed for the camp where Meng Huo was.
"Thank you for coming as reinforcements! King Mulu!"
He was renowned even in Nanzhong for raising beasts and using them as soldiers. When the fierce beasts in the cages growled, Meng Huo's soldiers turned pale. Even the Man soldiers who mainly fought in savage ways could not help but feel their knees weaken at the sight of real beasts.
"Leave the next vanguard to me. My children are quite hungry, after all."
King Mulu showed the beasts and displayed his confidence. When the caged beasts bared their fangs and growled, Meng Huo felt a chill run down his spine.
It's certain. This time we can truly defeat the kingdom of Shu!
To bring down Zhuge Liang, Meng Huo temporarily set aside his pride and flattered King Mulu. Just then a messenger ran up and reported.
"Your Majesty! The Shu army has appeared! The enemy vanguard is Wei Yan and Zhao Yun!"
The enemy generals Wei Yan and Zhao Yun had been crushing the Nanzhong forces and spreading their renown among the soldiers.
"Do not let your guard down, King Mulu. They are no easy opponents."
"Haha, do not worry, Your Majesty."
King Mulu led his soldiers out to face the Shu vanguard. When he confronted the Shu vanguard, King Mulu ordered the soldiers around him.
"Release the beasts from the cages!"
The firmly shut cages opened and the animals poured out.
"Grrrrr."
When the fierce beasts bared their fangs, the Shu soldiers felt an indescribable terror. They had prepared to fight soldiers with spears and swords, but fighting beasts was unexpected.
—Bwoooo!!
King Mulu, mounted on a white elephant, took out a large bell in his hand.
"Now, it's mealtime!!"
When Mulu rang the bell vigorously, the beasts all charged toward the Shu army at once. An agile wolf tore out a soldier's throat in one bite, and a giant tiger swung its paw to smash a soldier, shattering his bones. At the sight of the beasts charging violently, the soldiers fell into panic.
"Eeek, I-I can't fight!!"
Even strictly trained soldiers became helpless when faced with an unexpected situation. Soldiers trembling with primal instinct abandoned their weapons and began to flee.
"Do not flee!"
"Raise spears and shields! Form a solid line and stand firm, and oppose them while shooting crossbows!"
Even so, Zhao Yun and Wei Yan encouraged the army and tried to face the beasts. But the terrified soldiers did not heed the orders. Every time a resounding roar pierced their ears, the soldiers' hair stood on end. The two had no choice but to turn their horses around.
The battle formations they had trained hard to deploy were for facing enemy troops, and thus did not apply to beasts. Helpless against the advancing beasts, the Shu army abandoned even their camp and retreated.
"Hahahaha! As expected, even the foreign enemies are nothing before my beasts!"
Having defeated the Shu army, Mulu was overflowing with arrogance. Mulu collected the remaining military supplies in the camp and then burned the fortifications as they were.
Zhao Yun and Wei Yan gathered the defeated remnants and returned to the main camp where Zhuge Liang was. Zhuge Liang had been late in his advance speed because he was pacifying the hearts of the Nanzhong people.
"An army that commands beasts?"
Hearing of the beast army led by King Mulu, Zhuge Liang's eyes widened.
"...Yes, Prime Minister."
"Though we have experienced many battlefields, those who command beasts are a first for us."
Not only Wei Yan but Zhao Yun as well showed clear signs of bewilderment at the sight of the beasts being controlled. Unlike their usual selves as experienced generals, they looked deeply troubled.
...I thought maybe, but they really do command beasts.
Of course, animals like elephants had been used in war before. But commanding fierce beasts like tigers or wolves was close to fantasy.
I had anticipated things like poisonous springs or mists as in the Romance, but......
I hadn't expected King Mulu to appear already. With Feng Xi defeating the Man soldiers one by one and King Tasha also falling, history had become twisted. That meant one could never know when or who would appear as the opponent.
In such a situation, would the Shu generals have believed talk of commanding beasts without seeing it themselves? I had no choice but to keep silent until the officers and men witnessed the Nanzhong forces.
The generals also murmured in surprise at the commanding of beasts.
"Because of the beasts the soldiers cannot even respond. What should we do about this?"
"Perhaps we should end the Nanzhong expedition as is and return to Chengdu......"
With poisonous springs followed by beasts, some generals expressed doubts about the Nanzhong expedition. As it was, the humid weather from the jungle and unfamiliar creatures had already dampened the soldiers' morale.
"No. If we withdraw like this, Shu will leave the threat to our rear as is."
But Zhuge Liang dismissed the opinion to return.
"I too had known from books of the bizarre art by which the Southern Man command beasts. I could not believe it until I saw it myself."
"Even if we deploy battle formations, they will not work against the beasts."
Even a formation like the Eight Arrays created to face cavalry would not exert power against beasts.
"Then what in the world should we......"
"Follow me."
Zhuge Liang took the generals who had attended the military council and headed for the military supply warehouse. There was a huge wooden chest brought all the way from Shu.
"This is the countermeasure."
Zhuge Liang instructed the soldiers to show the generals the contents of the wooden chest.