Taiheiki

Chapter 175 Action
"This is the wheeled plow that Mengde mentioned!" Yuan Shao looked curiously at the wheeled plow moving in the field in the distance, pulled by four horses, the soil rolling like waves, leaving long and neat furrows: "Why not use oxen? Oxen should be stronger than horses, right?"

“They also use oxen, but not over here!” Wei Cong pointed to the distance: “Horses can not only plow fields, but also pull carts. Horse-drawn carts are much faster than oxcarts!”

"Really?" Yuan Shao looked at it with interest. "Jiaozhou is indeed much hotter. In the north, people are already preparing for winter clothes at this time of year, but here we can still plant a crop. What are you planting in the fields?"

“Beans, and alfalfa too!” Wei Cong laughed. “They’re all top-quality horse feed, and they not only don’t deplete the soil, but they also fertilize the fields, preparing the crops for next year!”

"Horse feed?" Yuan Shao immediately reacted: "Mengde, you have quite the ambition! You want to raise horses and train cavalry! But Jiaozhou is so hot, raising horses won't be convenient, will it?"

“Not all of Jiaozhou is hot. There are many cool pastures in the mountains to the north suitable for raising horses. We can also introduce more heat-resistant horse breeds for crossbreeding. It’s all up to us!” Wei Cong laughed nonchalantly. “Besides, I don’t need that many cavalry. Two or three thousand cavalrymen are enough to subdue all the barbarians in Jiaozhou!”

"Two or three thousand cavalry is not enough?" Yuan Shao laughed. "Brother Wei, you really have quite the appetite! By the way, I've been in Jiaozhou for some time now. When do you plan to go to Jiaozhi to deliver the imperial edict?"

“Let’s wait a few days until the farming season is over!” Wei Cong said. “By then, Jiaozhi will be in the dry season, the weather will be cool, and the land will be flat. It will be the perfect time to wage war. After I take over as the governor of Jiaozhou, I will wipe out the rebellious barbarians in one fell swoop!”

"That's pretty much what I guessed!" Yuan Shao laughed. "Then I, Yuan Shao, will observe Brother Wei's military strategy from the sidelines. Hahahaha!"

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Autumn in Panyu is very short, like the cheese slices in a cheap sandwich sold in a bakery. They are swallowed in a few bites, and diners don't even notice that summer has turned into winter in the blink of an eye. People start to put on their jackets, talk about this year's harvest, and prepare for the coming winter.

One afternoon, just past the end of the day, more than ten official boats emerged from the western water gate of Panyu. After passing the water gate for three or four miles, they docked. A group of two or three hundred people, consisting of sixty or seventy warhorses, more than one hundred packhorses and mules, disembarked from the boats. After landing, this group of people and horses headed northwest along the west bank of the river and the official road.

This initially sparsely organized column rapidly increased in number as the march progressed, with small groups of seven or eight cavalrymen and thirty to fifty men constantly joining them along the way. Their discipline appeared quite lax; men frequently moved about freely within the disorganized ranks, talking as they pleased, enjoying complete freedom during the march. After more than ten days of this, by the time they approached Yongji County in Yulin Commandery (present-day Pingxiang City, Guangxi Province), they had grown to over three hundred cavalrymen and over seven hundred infantrymen.

Just after dusk, the soldiers rested in their places, and campfires appeared here and there. They talked and shouted among themselves, asking each other about their destination. Some even asked passing officers questions, which drew reprimands from the officers. Some even raised their whips as if to lash them, but the soldiers were not afraid. They gathered around their own campfires, laughing and talking loudly. Most of them spoke accents that were very different from those of the locals in Jiaozhou. Some did not even speak Chinese. They looked like a hastily assembled ragtag army.

"Is this the kind of army that Mengde led to conquer the five counties of Jiaozhou?" Yuan Shao asked with a hint of sarcasm by the fire.

"The way of both civil and military affairs has its moments of relaxation and slackness!" Wei Cong seemed oblivious to Yuan Shao's sarcasm. He flipped the roasted rabbit over the fire a couple of times, tore off a piece, and handed it to Yuan Shao: "Here, Benchu, try my cooking!"

Yuan Shao took the rabbit meat and took a bite. He thought it tasted pretty good. Although he had some doubts, seeing Wei Cong's expression, he suppressed his doubts and said no more.

Although Yongji County belonged to Yulin Commandery, its actual control at the time was in the hands of local officials loyal to Zhang Pan. Scouts from the local garrison discovered the presence of this force. Despite marching in such a sensitive area where the two sides' forces were intersecting, it did not appear to be a strike force carrying out any secret mission, as it lacked the two essential conditions for a strike force: secrecy and speed.

It was unlike a grand army with a majestic banner and a resounding drum, ready to announce its military objectives to the world in a large-scale campaign, because it lacked both the scale of a march and the discipline and tension of an army.

In the eyes of the scouts, this ragtag army was a motley crew that occasionally passed through the area and occasionally strayed into the border region. If given the chance, it might even launch an accidental conflict. Since Wei Cong took control of the five northern counties of Jiaozhou and the two sides had been locked in a stalemate, relations between them had fluctuated, with occasional clashes occurring during the handover of power, but these were all accidental.

Typically, a group of a few dozen or a few hundred men, led by one or two captains, or even just a single captain, would storm into the area, plunder people, livestock, and food, temporarily occupy some military strongholds, and then soon retreat through negotiations, voluntarily, or be defeated by the defending forces and return in disarray. This did not escalate into a major war.

For Zhang Pan, after Zhang Xu was completely defeated and the five counties of Jiaozhou were lost, he dared not easily start a war with Wei Cong. He basically adopted a passive defensive attitude and focused his main efforts on conquering the local barbarians and supporting the counties of Rinan and Jiuzhen.

Most of his troops were accustomed to these sporadic conflicts and took them for granted, not taking them seriously at all. They would resolve the issues on the spot without reporting them to the Jiaozhi authorities. The Jiaozhi authorities, in turn, turned a blind eye, leaving the matter to their subordinates as long as the scope of the disputes did not expand, and only reported to Zhang Pan as a last resort.

Now, the local scouts probably reported the random actions of this ragtag army to the county based on this impression, and the county also judged the enemy situation based on this impression.

But an unexpected event finally occurred.

Just past midnight, a horn suddenly sounded in the camp, startling Yuan Shao awake. His reaction was quick; he instinctively pulled his sword from under his pillow, grabbed it, and then stood up, hearing hurried footsteps and deep commands coming from outside the tent.

"Could it be a night attack? Damn it, with Wei Cong's men so lax, any thieves who encounter a night attack are bound to suffer a great loss, and I'll be the one who gets caught in the crossfire!"

At this moment, Yuan Shao's guards entered from outside the tent and whispered, "My lord, the governor of Wei's men have arrived. They are right outside the tent and say that the governor requests your presence!"

"Wei Cong hasn't lost his composure yet? That's great!" Yuan Shao breathed a sigh of relief. He nodded, finished dressing, and stepped out of the tent. To his surprise, he found that the soldiers who were usually so lax were now fully dressed and standing in neat formation around the fire, ready for battle. What was going on? Had what he had seen before been a facade, and this been their true nature?

“Envoy Yuan, I am Nie Sheng, the adopted son of Governor Wei. I have come to invite you on my father’s orders!” A valiant young man clad in iron armor bowed to Yuan Shao, saying, “Because of my armor, I cannot perform the full ceremony. Please forgive me!”

“No problem!” Yuan Shao nodded. By the light of the fire, he carefully examined the young man, but he couldn’t recall when this person had been in the group.

Following the young man's footsteps, Yuan Shao passed through rows of armored warriors. Apart from the occasional clanging of armor plates and the snorting of warhorses, there was no other sound. He couldn't help but think to himself, "Wei Cong must be deliberately feigning weakness; he's even fooled me!" "Benchu!" Wei Cong stood among a group of armored officers. Seeing Yuan Shao, he quickly approached and grabbed his forearm. "The military situation has changed; I apologize for disturbing you!"

"What's up!""

"Zhang Pan has been kidnapped!" Wei Cong lowered his voice: "Several local strongmen from Jiaozhi don't want me to take over as the governor of Jiaozhou, so they kidnapped Zhang Pan and want to seize power!"

"Is that so?" Yuan Shao looked at Wei Cong with suspicion, thinking to himself, "What a coincidence, could it be some trick by this fellow?"

Wei Cong ignored Yuan Shao's question and said directly, "So I plan to march into Jiaozhi immediately, rescue Zhang Pan, and then capture those bandits!"

"Of course!" Yuan Shao suppressed his doubts: "Then, Brother Wei, do you have a plan?"

"Hmm!" Wei Cong nodded: "Ah Sheng!"

“Your son is here!” Nie Sheng replied.

"Take a hundred cavalrymen and rush to Yongji County overnight. Tell them that you are acting on my orders to ask the county officials to go hunting outside the city!" Wei Cong said.

"Yes!" Nie Sheng replied, then asked, "What if the magistrate refuses to leave the city?"

"It's alright, we'll try diplomacy first and then resort to force!" Wei Cong laughed. "You just need to cut off the road from Yongji County to Jiaozhi and capture their messenger!"

"Yes, sir!" Nie Sheng responded, bowed to Wei Cong with his hands clasped, and withdrew. A moment later, urgent commands and the sound of horses' hooves came from below. "Pass down the order: each team shall first eat, then break camp and depart in turn!"

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Wei Cong's army was like a beast that had just awakened from its slumber, revealing its sharp claws and fangs. Yuan Shao witnessed their iron discipline, rabbit-like agility, and lightning speed. An hour later, they set off in the darkness and arrived at the city of Yongji at dawn, only to find that the city was already under the control of Nie Sheng's advance team.

"What's going on?" Yuan Shao asked.

“Sheng’er was lucky!” Wei Cong laughed. “He discovered a gap in the western city wall, which was more than ten feet shorter than the main wall. So he led his men to make a makeshift ladder, climbed over the gap, entered the city, captured the magistrate, and forced him to open the city gate!”

"Good luck?" Yuan Shao looked at Wei Cong with doubt. In his impression, county towns located on the dividing line between two forces usually paid more attention to city defense. However, he was not foolish enough to continue to ask and nodded: "Even so, climbing the city wall at night is still very impressive!"

"Yes!" Just like a proud father, Wei Cong smiled smugly: "Although Asheng is not my biological son, he has never disappointed me. It is truly my blessing to have such an adopted son!"

Yuan Shao smiled slightly. He wanted to check the city wall to see if there was a breach as Wei Cong had mentioned, but he was afraid of being noticed, which would be bad, so he simply went to rest. Wei Cong gathered everyone together for breakfast, and after resting until the afternoon, they left Yongji County and headed along the official road towards Longbian County, the capital of Jiaozhi Commandery.

About half a day after Wei Cong left Yongji County, the sound of drums and horns came from outside the city. In no time, the sounds of people and horses blended together. Squads of infantry and cavalry, with their flags raised and war drums beating, arrived one after another. These were the main forces that Wei Cong was heading to take over the three prefectures of Jiaozhi, Rinan, and Jiuzhen.

The army was mostly composed of infantry, but the ranks were also filled with mules and horses to transport the soldiers' supplies and armor. Everyone in the ranks, even the archers, was armored. Many of the veterans had followed Wei Cong in battles as early as Yuzhang and even Jiangling. Most of the soldiers had personally participated in the expedition south from Yuzhang, crossing the Five Ridges, and had received generous rewards. Shared experiences and a common goal bound them together as one.

About one-third of the infantry were spearmen, whose main weapon was a long spear with a bamboo handle about four meters long. They carried swords and short bow quivers at their waists. The remaining two-thirds were archers, half of whom were archers. They carried longbows made of bamboo and mulberry wood that were more than a person tall. They carried quivers with twenty-four arrows on their backs and short swords at their waists for protection.

More arrows were carried on the backs of the accompanying mules and horses, while the remaining half were carried by crossbowmen. In addition to powerful crossbows weighing over 200 kilograms and levers for cocking, they also carried long shields on their backs. On the battlefield, these crossbowmen would raise their shields, hide behind them, and cock their crossbows to fire.

In addition to the regular army, there were also some auxiliary troops, such as the lightly armed barbarian infantry who were good at leaping and moving in the mountains and carried slings and poles with spear tips. There were also more than a hundred Ju-ting mounted archers riding short horses. These cavalrymen, who wrapped their heads in blue cloth and wore gold and silver earrings, were obtained by Wei Cong in exchange for a long-term trade agreement.

Their mounts, while inferior in shoulder height, speed, and carrying capacity to the horses commonly used by the Han army at the time, possessed excellent endurance, allowing them to traverse rugged mountain terrain with ease and better adapted to the southern climate. These mounts could gallop along mountain paths, shooting as they went, a feat unmatched by the Han cavalry.

This army, along with other auxiliary forces, totaled six thousand men, and this was Wei Cong's true reliance.

Its goals were clear: in addition to succeeding Zhang Pan as the governor of Jiaozhou, suppressing potential opponents, and becoming the true master of Jiaozhou, it also aimed to suppress the existing rebellions in Jiuzhen and Rinan counties, completely conquer the emerging Linyi Kingdom, push the southern border of the Han Dynasty's Jiaozhou to the Mekong Delta, and thoroughly ensure the safety of Jiaozhi County located in the Red River Delta.

Of course, only a few mid- to high-ranking officers knew about Wei Cong's plan. However, those soldiers who had participated in the expedition from Yuzhang to Jiaozhou sensed a special atmosphere during the long march. This was a time when everyone wanted to use their wisdom and courage to gain merit and fame; morale was at an all-time high, and officers and soldiers alike radiated a mixture of hope and excitement. They all realized that there were no obstacles between them and victory.

(End of this chapter)