Taiheiki

Chapter 185 Supplies
"The Han people are very skilled at building fortifications!" The priest, who answered on behalf of the King of Lin-yi, was respected by everyone present: "If we attack like this, many people will die. It's best to wait a while longer so that we can make more weapons!"

"The Han people can also make weapons, but when will that happen? Their weapons are better than ours!" Someone questioned, "Let's use war elephants to break through the Han people's fortifications! We spent so much effort collecting so many elephants just for this, didn't we? Besides, they eat too much. Just feeding so many war elephants would be enough to crush us!"

"Yes!"

"This is indeed a big problem!"

"Your Majesty, deploy the war elephants! With fortifications in place, even if the attack fails, we can still retreat!"

A chorus of agreement rippled through the group around the table. It was indeed the elephants' enormous appetite that had finally broken the camel's back. While it was true that elephants primarily ate grass and leaves, which were plentiful in the subtropical region even during the dry season, the problem was their sheer volume. Each adult elephant consumed approximately 200 kilograms of food per day, totaling 20 tons for a hundred elephants. Given the number of elephants in the Lin-yi army, they would devour all the vegetation in the surrounding area within two days. To prevent the elephants from starving, they would either have to feed them grain or bring in grass and leaves from afar, both of which would severely burden the Lin-yi army's logistics. This was clearly not a sustainable solution.

"Things aren't as simple as you think!" Seeing the situation slipping out of his control, the king finally spoke up: "The Han general isn't a fool; he must have made preparations against the war elephants. Launching an attack rashly like this will not end well!"

"This delay can't go on! Unless we can solve the problem of war elephant feed, the situation will only get worse!"

"Why don't we withdraw some of the war elephants and troops to the rear and plunder Han villages? This would reduce the problem of feed supply and also allow us to obtain some food!"

"Yes, my army only has five days' worth of rations left. Perhaps I should retreat first!"

"Shut up!" Seeing that things were getting increasingly out of line, Qu Heng quickly stopped them: "You all want to plunder Han villages, but don't you think that if you don't defeat the Han army in front of you first, even if you manage to seize the grain, will you be able to keep it? Here's what we'll do: whoever plunders a Han village must hand over all the spoils first, and then we'll distribute them uniformly!"

Upon hearing this, the crowd paused briefly before arguing again about who should plunder and who should stay behind to fight the Han army. No one was a fool; no matter how vehemently Qu Heng spoke, he couldn't stop those who grabbed the spoils first from profiting from the chaos. How much to hand over and how much to keep was entirely up to them. It was better than staying there hungry and facing the Han army. Seeing the argument escalating, a helpless Qu Heng could only forcefully order the group to stop. Having completely lost his appetite, he immediately declared dinner over. Thus, the dinner ended amidst a mix of joy and sorrow.

Just as Qu An got up to leave, he heard his father's voice: "Qu An, yes, it's you, stay!"

Qu An sat back down on the stool. He could feel the strange gazes coming from all directions, mostly from his brothers. He didn't like this feeling. He lowered his head, held his breath, and waited for his father's scolding.

"Your assessment of the Han Chinese villages along the way is correct. Conscripting manpower and food will only provoke greater resistance, which will only drag us into even greater trouble!" He clenched his fist at this point: "Nonsense, utter nonsense—"

"But the army is short of food!" Qu An said. "Without food, we cannot hold out. The generals are right!"

"Who caused all this?" Qu Heng glared at his son.

Qu An suppressed the urge to unleash a torrent of curses and quietly apologized to his father. Qu Heng waved his hand: "There's no point in discussing this now. The Han general's goal is clear—to build fortifications, trap us in this narrow land passage, use his fleet to attack our supply lines, drag us out until we can't hold on any longer, and then pursue us; or force us to attack the fortifications he's built. It's double poison; he doesn't care which cup we take."

"What do you mean?"

"We won't take a single cup!" Qu Heng said. "Since the Han people can send fleets to attack our supplies, so can we!"

Qu An suddenly felt a sense of foreboding: "Does His Majesty want me to do the same? But the Han fleet is far stronger than ours. If we encounter them at sea, we're doomed!"

“Of course I know that!” Qu Heng’s face showed a rare smile: “That’s why I plan to have you cross the mountains in the northeast, then bypass the Han army’s fortifications, and enter the Han people’s Jiaozhi County!”

Even though Qu An was used to his father's status as a burden, he still felt an urge to spit in the father's face when he heard the order. The northern section of the watershed that separates the Mekong River system from the South China Sea system has an average elevation of about 1,500 meters. This height may not seem like much, but it's important to know that the average distance between this mountain range and the sea is only 50 or 60 kilometers. In other words, the dramatic change in terrain, from a few meters or tens of meters above sea level on the coastal plains to mountains with an elevation of over 1,000 meters, is completed within a distance of about 100 kilometers, demonstrating its steepness. Due to the subtropical climate, these mountains are covered with dense forests, and cliffs and headlands are everywhere. Even though the Cham people are a Southeast Asian ethnic group and are more adaptable to the climate than the Han people, it is extremely difficult for them to cross such steep mountains, enter the highlands, and then invade the Red River Delta.

"Your Majesty, what you're saying doesn't seem easy!" Qu An gritted his teeth, suppressing the urge to burst into curses.

“I know, but war is inherently a difficult thing!” Qu Heng laughed. “And do you know Zhu Da?”

"It seems to be the powerful people of Jiuzhen County who have risen up against the Han people!"

“That’s right, he’s also a friend of our Zhan people. His lair is in the mountains, and he can offer you some assistance!” Qu Heng paused slightly. “Or perhaps you prefer to travel by sea?”

"Let's go over the mountain!" After weighing the pros and cons, Qu An made his choice. He preferred to stand on rocks and mud rather than on a floating deck.

"Then it's settled!" Qu Heng looked relieved. "You can prepare for two days, and then you can set off!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Qu An lowered his head, his eyes filled with gloom.

Leaving his father's tent, Qu An walked to the edge of the camp and stood there for a long time. The forest was not far from him now. Standing there, he could see the dark trees shrouding the edge of the clearing, like another city wall. Even the moonlight could not penetrate those ancient, intertwined roots. The scouts said that the trees there grew incredibly tall, looking as if they were deep in thought.

The forests loathed outsiders; he could truly feel their rejection. The distant mountains were silent and dark, devoid of any light or shadow, like another world. He suddenly recalled the legends of spirits and ghosts, the eerie sights of the mountains, that he had heard since childhood. The curses and jokes he used to make about them no longer seemed so frivolous. Perhaps those legends were true! he told himself.

"His Majesty has ordered you to cross that mountain range?" Baffa stared wide-eyed in surprise, looking at the young man before him as if he were a dead man.

“Good!” Qu An nodded: “We must set off tomorrow! Otherwise, we will have to take a sea route to attack the Han people’s rear and their supply lines, just like they are doing to us now!”

“Prince, this is dangerous!” Baffa whispered.

“I know, I’m not afraid of danger!” Qu An laughed. “Don’t forget, I’m a tiger hunter!”

“I know, but not all dangers are the same. Tigers aren’t human, and humans are far more dangerous!” Baffa whispered. “A father shouldn’t put his son in such a dangerous situation!”

“The king has many sons! Perhaps I am not considered a real son in his eyes!” Qu An sighed.

Silence fell in the tent. Qu An looked at the merchant in front of him and saw that his brows were furrowed and his face was full of worry. He suddenly felt a little better. At least the man in front of him was worried about his fate and death. Was that enough?

“My friend!” He opened his arms and gently embraced Baffa. “Don’t grieve for me. Everyone has their own destiny, and mine is to die for my father. If you truly pity me, then transfer that pity to my maternal clan! I will entrust all my inheritance to you for safekeeping. After I die, you can pass it on to my maternal clan, so that it can escape the eyes of my greedy brothers!”

“It’s too early to talk about these things now!” Baffa shook his head: “Prince, there is a saying among the Han people: ‘If the father is not a father, the son is not a son.’ That means that if the father is loving towards the son, then the son should be filial to the father.”

“That’s what Han people say, but I’m not Han!” Qu An said with a wry smile.

“But you can also be Han Chinese!” The words were on the tip of his tongue, but Bafa swallowed them back. Now was not the time to reveal his true colors; ill-timed sympathy would only cost him his life. He nodded: “Rest assured, I will remember your words, and the gods will protect you!”

"Thank you!" Qu An beckoned his servant to bring the wooden box containing his inventory of property, handed it to Bafa, and gave him detailed instructions. After explaining everything, he suddenly sighed: "When I was a child, I once heard a wandering monk chant the Mahabharata in a temple. There was a line in it: 'Mortals are like duckweed on the water, their fortunes and misfortunes are determined by Heaven. No matter if you are a descendant of gods or a peerless hero, you cannot defy fate.' Perhaps destiny is still on the side of the Han people. Destiny is still on the side of the Han people! In the eyes of future generations, what I am doing now is nothing but a laughable and futile effort!"

Baffa was taken aback and asked, "Why do you say that!"

"It's nothing!" Qu An smiled. "It was just a fleeting feeling. Never mind, if the Han people win this time, my mother's clan will most likely perish. If that's the case, use these funds to donate to temples and support monks skilled in poetry. Ask them to write poems about me and my family, just like the Mahabharata, and let them be passed down. Let the world know that there was once such a person as me, and such a family!"

As Baffa left with the wooden box, he was filled with emotion and murmured, "Life is like flowing water, constantly moving forward, never stopping."

----------------------

Wei army camp.

"So the enemy's food supplies are already very scarce?" Wei Cong asked.

“Yes! Look!” Yuan Tian stepped aside, revealing a corpse on the ground: “This is an enemy scout. Last night, he ran into several of my men’s patrols and was shot and killed. My men cut open his abdomen and found a lot of wild vegetables among the undigested food. As you know, scouts in the army have the best food. The fact that even the scouts of the Zhan people are eating wild vegetables clearly indicates a serious problem with their rations!”

"Hmm!" Wei Cong covered his nose and carefully examined the disgusting slurry in the earthenware bowl next to the corpse. It did indeed contain a lot of undigested wild vegetables. He waved his hand, signaling his men to clean it up. He returned to the map and muttered to himself, "Since the Zhan people are so short of food, there are only two things they can do: either retreat or reopen the supply lines! There's no other way. Oh, right, there's a third way. As long as they completely defeat me on the front, the entire Jiaozhi Prefecture will be theirs, and the food shortage problem will naturally be solved!"

Thinking of this, Wei Cong shouted, "Yuan Tian!"

“Yes!” Yuan Tian replied.

"Dispatch six hundred men, divided into four teams, to harass the enemy camp day and night. Do not seek to capture any enemy troops, but only to observe their movements. If there is anything unusual, report to me immediately!"

"Here!"

The afternoon after Wei Cong issued the order, they reaped the rewards. An army tasked with flanking the Cham camp discovered a long, unguarded trench about seventy or eighty paces wide. Crossing this trench would allow them to easily bypass the Cham defenses and directly attack the enemy's rear camp, including the elephant stables, granaries, and supply depots. The officer who discovered this immediately realized the importance of this intelligence. He sent men to scout the surrounding area while simultaneously dispatching others back to report.

"Is this really true?" Wei Cong jumped up from behind the desk. "Are you sure?"

"I've confirmed it with my own eyes!" Yuan Tian was also full of excitement. He had realized that he had grasped the key to victory or defeat: "After crossing the long fortress, go west for about a mile, go around a grove of trees, and you will see the bandits' elephant stables, as well as their granaries, barns, and supplies, which are all not far away!"

"Could this be a trap?" Wei Cong frowned. "They couldn't break through my defenses with a frontal assault, so they deliberately exposed a weakness to lure me into launching a surprise attack, then set up an ambush!"

(End of this chapter)