Gyeonseong Assault: Black Mountain Bandits Subjugation (3)
A bandit wielding a sword on the open plain had encountered heavily armored cavalry. The outcome went without saying. The corpses of bandits already strewn across the surrounding area provided the answer to that question.
"A clean victory."
"It was a force that was bound to win, after all."
Sima Yi remained composed even in triumph. Just as she said, she was calm, as if they'd simply won a battle they were always going to win.
"They could've tried fleeing, but they'd have just been hunted down and killed anyway. If they chose to fight to the death, they had to accept dying. Unfortunately, it seems we missed the enemy leader."
The bandits hadn't been able to regain their wits amid the cavalry's charges and breakthroughs. Expecting sword-wielding bandits on open ground—not even spears—to survive clashing with heavily armored riders was absurd from the start. Allied casualties were virtually nonexistent.
...Well, it wasn't as if there were zero deaths, truthfully. But those men hadn't been killed by the bandits.
"My apologies, General. We didn't anticipate it."
"No need. It's not your fault. They fell off their horses due to lack of training."
They'd set the forest ablaze and charged over it, leaving some horses unable to run properly. Sure, you could say they could've waited for the heat to die down, but these were the elite mounts of the Ho Biao Qi, with capabilities far beyond ordinary. Cao Ren had believed they could handle running over the embers—and they had, mostly. Fewer than ten horses had panicked and fallen to their deaths.
Even so, there had been around a hundred casualties overall. The reason? Iron shards and traps scattered throughout the woods.
"Burning the trees actually worked in our favor. We nearly stepped on those iron caltrops otherwise."
"Better to tread embers and push forward fast than step on caltrops with their hooves."
The bandits had laid traps so viciously that stepping on smoldering branches—hot for a moment—was actually safer. Some bandits had even succeeded in their ambush goals. They'd tied invisible trip lines across horse paths to topple the mounts, then rushed the riders, killed them, and fled.
"For a preliminary battle, these are satisfying results."
"......"
Still, he decided against saying something half-baked like, but people died. No matter how elaborately he schemed—rivaling even Zhuge Liang's genius in strategy and tactics—to avoid allied deaths, people would die anyway. He already knew well that minimizing casualties on the battlefield was the true path to saving lives.
Think in numbers, he told himself.
A hundred or so allies dead. And four thousand enemy bandits slain.
"This is the power of the Ho Biao Qi...!"
Cao Ren let out an exclamation at the staggering 'exchange ratio,' genuinely awed in a way the protagonist found hard to relate to. The armored warrior seemed to feel a thrill he couldn't share.
Guess I'm just not cut out to be a battlefield general.
Thoughts like those enemies were once ordinary folk kept creeping in, confirming he lacked the general's temperament. So instead, he fulfilled his role as a certain woman's husband.
"Good work, Yi'ya. Don't get too down about it."
"Mm..."
Sima Yi was dejected simply at having taken casualties. By her calculations, they should've been half this number, if not less.
"Thanks to you spotting the ambush, hundreds avoided pointless deaths. Aren't you satisfied?"
"But charging over the embers is what got so many killed. I got greedy with the enemy right in front of us—that was the problem."
Sima Yi hung her head. Comforting her here wasn't the way to handle Sima Yi.
"True, some horses just couldn't handle it well. Let's think of a new method next time."
"Yes..."
What had happened was done. What Sima Yi needed was praise, reflection on this failure, and a goal for the future.
"We need a way for horses to run over burning ground. Master, any ideas?"
"Hmm... Ah."
It came to him. ...Though the inspiration was a bit offbeat.
"Ahem, Yi'ya. Remember last year, walking barefoot through the woods?"
"Last year... Ah."
Sima Yi clapped, recalling it instantly.
"Yes, I remember. The weather was so hot, my soles nearly cooked."
"Shall we shoe the horses too?"
"...I like it. Details aside on how to make the shoes, it's a good idea."
Sima Yi finally smiled, her face relaxing.
"What would Zhuge Liang do in a situation like this?"
"Why bring up Liang?"
"Just curious. What would Liang..."
What would Zhuge Liang do?
"...Probably cool the ground first, then charge."
"Douse it with water?"
"A sudden downpour from the sky, enough to quench the embers and make it comfortable for the horses."
"...Somehow, I can see her pulling it off."
Sima Yi shivered.
"She's freakishly good with weather. She'd time the rain perfectly and loose her fire arrows."
"Yi'ya, I was joking. Don't take it seriously."
"I know. I was joking too. No one could actually do that."
Plip, plop.
"...Huh."
Raindrops began falling slowly from the sky.
* * *
"Damn it, damn it all!"
Sugo wrapped a cloth around his forearm, grinding his teeth. News of the four thousand Black Mountain bandits ambushed and massacred had spread like wildfire through their Gyeonseong stronghold. His subordinates shot him dirty looks.
—He hogged the glory and stepped up, and look what happened.
—Must've blundered into the ambush showing off.
—Hiding doesn't solve it against lunatics who burn forests.
"Gah, arghhh!!"
Sugo could only roar in fury.
"How the hell was I supposed to know they'd burn the forest!!"
The tactics from that man had been simple: Ambush in the unavoidable forest en route to Gyeonseong, whittle their forces, then fight at the city. No worries about their all-cavalry army, he'd insisted. But that scheme had gone up in smoke—literally—overnight.
Ambush in the forest. Fire in the forest. Unless you wanted to burn alive, common sense said flee the woods.
"Cao Cao, you mad bitch! They called you the demon who drowned Xuzhou in blood, and your subordinates are the same breed!"
Lunatics who torched forests. No law said they wouldn't torch the city too.
"Damn, what if they lob fire into the walls? Gyeonseong's not that high...!"
Gyeonseong, forcibly seized by bandits, wasn't ideal for defense. Their foes weren't siege experts either, but a breached gate would change everything. Just like the ambushing thousands trampled by cavalry, it'd crumble fast.
Fortunately, things weren't dire. Wall reinforcements were underway, and now rain fell from the sky, dousing any fire risk. Rain would blunt cavalry mobility too.
"Damn, did I screw up stepping out? Should've just fled north to Jinyang and preyed on barbarians?"
Sugo gnawed his nails in torment. But no easy answers came, leaving one path.
"Surrender here means my head rolls. Yeah, no doubt. We fight no matter what."
Sugo couldn't turn back. Win or die fighting.
"Pardon the intrusion, General."
"...Huh?"
The voice didn't fit coming from bandit ranks. Sugo whipped around to see a neatly dressed civil official.
"Ah, well. Hello, Advisor Guo! This incident, it was—"
"He's deeply disappointed in this matter."
"It was force majeure! Beyond my control!"
"It's not disappointment in you. He's furious at Cao Cao's army brazenly torching the forest. How could official troops act so barbarically?"
"R-Really? Haha..."
Sugo shivered, feeling a blade at his throat.
"N-No way the official army's coming to subjugate us too, right?"
"The only official army is Cao Cao's. Just hold out in Gyeonseong."
"Hold out?"
"Yes. The enemy is ten thousand all-cavalry. Supplies must be limited. Drag it out, and you win. They'll have to leave eventually."
"H-How long?"
"...Thirty days at most."
The official smirked, patting Sugo's shoulder.
"Hold thirty days. Then he will act."
"Thirty days...!"
"Yes. Thirty. They'll starve and withdraw. Understand? Your goal isn't beating them."
"Subjugation... failure...!"
"Exactly. Just endure. Then..."
"He subjugates us! We flee to Jinyang!"
Sugo grinned wide.
"Kahaha! Got it! I'll hold with all I've got!"
* * *
"A path with some sacrifice but crushing them in five days. Or minimal sacrifice but taking half a month. Which do you choose?"
With trust secured, Sima Yi freely showcased her stratagems before the generals.
"How does the latter work?"
"Gyeonseong's walls aren't that high. Even stacking palisades now won't make them impregnable. Build ramps horses can climb, attach to the walls, and scale them."
"And descending?"
"Stairs. The Ho Biao Qi mounts can manage."
"Possible, sure. But possible."
Cao Ren's gaze shifted from Sima Yi to him.
"T-Teacher. Any word from the Lord?"
"No specific instructions."
"Then what? What would the Lord choose of Sima Yi's plans?"
"Mm..."
A quicker end with sacrifices. Minimal losses but slower.
If it were me, the latter without question.
But Cao Ren asked for Cao Cao's judgment.
"Lady Cao Cao would obviously go for it. Why spare overwhelming force?"
"...Indeed. No wonder she eyes you as son-in-law material."
Cao Ren marveled, clapping his shoulder.
"Spot on. Even after decades, I can't read Cao Mengde's mind, but you nailed it from afar. Kahaha! So what would I do?"
"General Cao Ren would..."
He felt the heat from Cao Ren's hand on his shoulder.
"Smash the enemy flat. Right, Yi'ya?"
"Yes. I've prepared the tactics. Shall I explain?"
"Yes."
Sima Yi outlined the rapid Gyeonseong assault. Cao Ren listened intently, marveling at her tactical insight.
"Impressive. Just hearing it feels like victory."
"Can't afford complacency, but with this overwhelming force disparity..."
Ten thousand cavalry. Fifteen thousand infantry.
"Pound the walls, breach them, slaughter the bandits."
"How?"
"With overwhelming power."
"How, exactly? Just stab spears at the gate?"
"Master will handle that."
Gazes turned to him amid the discussion.
"...Wait. Me? Who?"
"Yes, Master."
Sima Yi reached out to him.
"Breaking tough walls is your specialty, right?"
"......"