Taiheiki

Chapter 346 Confrontation
Then he became the first victim that evening. As An Cun reluctantly turned around, leaned his spear against a tree, stretched, and was struck squarely in the chest by a crossbow bolt. He tumbled softly down the slope and fell into the ditch.

Another sentry stood on the other side of the tree, its thick trunk obscuring his view. He didn't notice the Han army's vanguard until they were only about twenty paces away. He tried to blow his horn but was pierced through the stomach by a javelin. He screamed in pain, his stealth coming to an end. The attacking side shouted in unison, straightened up, leveled their spears, and launched their charge.

Riding on horseback atop a shrub-covered mound, Yu Wen could easily survey the entire battlefield. Even though it was late November, the Tonle Sap Lake shore was still densely vegetated during the dry season, with trees and bamboo obscuring most of the view. He could only make out some blurry shadows. However, by the metallic reflection of the soldiers' armor, he could easily distinguish friend from foe—even the Han archers wore iron helmets with nose guards and lobster-shaped neck guards, along with chainmail armor; both the armor coverage and the quality of their armor far surpassed that of the mountain people in the Gou-ting army.

The battle was one-sided from the start. The disorganized mountain villagers grabbed their weapons and rushed out from around the campfires, attempting to hold back the raiders who were storming into the village. But they were quickly overwhelmed by the well-organized spearmen of the Han army. Experienced Han archers, upon entering the village, immediately climbed the walls and rooftops, unleashing a hail of arrows upon the chaotic villagers. Defeated, the villagers fled into their homes, attempting to put up a fight, but they were met with a barrage of fire arrows. Smoke and flames quickly forced them out of their houses, and in desperation, they tried to fight to the death. But they still couldn't break through the Han army's ranks. When their initial "fight to the death" spirit faded, the villagers began to do what they had done in past tribal battles: either surrendering with their weapons down or scattering in all directions.

"Very good!" Yu Wen waved his arm with satisfaction: "Sound the retreat and tell them they don't need to pursue anymore. Let them take the message back, which will keep the barbarian general up at night!"

The battle was over. The Han soldiers withdrew from the village and rested and ate in the open space outside, talking in hushed tones. Meanwhile, the Funan people, who had accompanied them as guides and auxiliary troops, rushed into the village. They would carry their own wounded and dead soldiers onto the boats and dispose of the enemy's wounded as well. From time to time, piercing cries and pleas could be heard from the village. These were mostly the Funan people who had found enemy prisoners in the village. They stripped these men naked, surrounded them, and stabbed them mercilessly with bamboo spears until they bled to death and collapsed before cutting off their heads and throwing them into the ditch outside the village.

Cruel, yet fair; after all, no one invited them! Yu Wen thought to himself as he watched the Funan people excitedly urinate on the enemy corpses in the trench. The last rays of the setting sun cast a dark, bloody hue over the pale skin of the corpses. Sometime later, from nowhere, crows had arrived, perching on the treetops and cawing incessantly. Perhaps these birds were urging us to leave quickly so we could have our meal? Yu Wen thought to himself.

A loud crash pulled Yu Wen from his thoughts of crows. The village's largest house had collapsed in the smoke and fire. It was a temple dedicated to the monkey god, its beams no longer able to support the heavy stone roof. More than thirty villagers stared blankly at the scene before them, most of them women. Only these people remained. According to the oldest among them, "When these bandits stormed the village, they killed all the men who could resist them and the useless old people, leaving only the women and a few children they planned to take back!"

“Tell them they can come with us and leave this place for safety. Once we drive these barbarians away, they can come back and rebuild the village!” Yu Wen said to the guide.

After hearing the guide's translation, the woman shook her head and said a few words. The guide said, "She thanked you for your arrangements, but all the men are dead, and women alone cannot rebuild the village!"

“That’s not a problem, they can find husbands to live with them!” Yu Wen laughed. “With such fertile land and ready-made women, there are plenty of men willing to come!”

Next, the soldiers ate in an open space next to the village, where there was plenty of food. The women had prepared a lavish dinner—rice with spices, vegetables, and fish, roast pork, and papaya and clam soup. The soldiers ate their dinner with satisfaction, muttering complaints about not being able to drink alcohol—they had discovered a large quantity of rice wine in the village's cellars, a local specialty that had historically been supplied to the nobles of the capital.

Yu Wen did not eat. He cautiously surveyed the surroundings, sending out scouts and sentries. Although the Ju-ting people's counterattack was unlikely to be so swift, anything could happen on the battlefield. Once the soldiers had finished eating and resting, he ordered everyone to board the ships and head to the next objective.

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The Han army's night raid worked, just like any other general fighting in unfamiliar territory. Qielan immediately ordered a tightening of defenses and sent out scouts to identify the audacious raiders. Once he received confirmation, he immediately ordered Ying Feng to be brought to him.

"It's been confirmed; the ones who launched the night attacks on my army these past two days were indeed Han soldiers!" General Ju-ting stared coldly at Ying-feng: "I need an explanation!"

“Explain what?” Ying Feng replied.

"The Emperor of Han has clearly appointed our king as General Who Pacifies the Barbarians, granting him imperial authority to lead the campaign against the southwestern barbarians. Now the Han army is attacking our forces again?"

"I don't know either!" Ying Feng replied, "What do you plan to do? Kill me, or—?"

"In war, one should not kill envoys, especially since you are not an envoy!" General Gou-cho sneered. "Besides, killing you would not help; winning on the battlefield is what matters!"

"If that's the case, then what brings you here?" Ying Feng asked. "I am also a Han envoy. You probably don't trust me now and can't use my advice!"

Qielan snorted coldly and gestured for Ying Feng to sit down: "Just say what you want to say, whether I listen or not is up to me!"

"What do you want to ask?"

"Our king received an edict from the Han emperor, but according to the scouts, the general leading the troops is the chief secretary of the Han general's office, and the general, Wei Cong, is the former governor of Jiaozhou. I would like to ask, what is the relationship between General Wei and the emperor? Why are their orders contradictory?"

"This—" Ying Feng was completely taken aback by the question. After a moment's hesitation, he replied, "The current emperor is still young, and the affairs of state are still in the hands of the Empress Dowager and the Grand General!"

"The emperor is still young, and the affairs of state are in the hands of the Empress Dowager and the Grand General? Do you mean that this is due to a disagreement between the Empress Dowager and the Grand General?" Qielan asked.

"I didn't mean that!" Ying Feng quickly denied.

"Since it's not a disagreement between the two, then it must be a scheme? Using the Gochō people's strength to invade, then sending troops to drive us away, thereby occupying Funan?" Qielan asked, "Is that the only explanation?"

Ying Feng gave a wry smile. Who said barbarians were all fools? They might not be well-read, but in terms of strategy and tactics, they were in no way inferior to the scholar-officials of the Han Dynasty. It would have taken him a long time to figure this out, but he understood it in no time. "I don't know about that!" Ying Feng said. "After all, this matter involves too many things, and it's impossible to explain it clearly in a hurry!"

"Is that so?" Qielan laughed. "Perhaps you didn't know at first, after all, the important person who sent you on this mission probably didn't tell you the whole plan, but how could you not know now? You're just being stubborn and refusing to admit it!"

Ying Feng was at a loss for words, and after a moment said, "Then what do you plan to do with me? Kill me?"

"Kill you? Do you think I'm that stupid?" Qielan laughed. "Everyone knows the consequences of killing a Han envoy. Besides, in the upcoming battle with the Han army, if we win, you can help me negotiate peace; if we lose, I'll need you even more to help me negotiate peace. Why would I kill you!"

Ying Feng finally lowered the sword that had been hanging in his heart: "You still have to fight this battle!"

"Of course we have to fight! We've marched thousands of miles, even capturing the king of Funan, and then they ran back in fear at the sight of a few Han soldiers. We can't possibly explain ourselves like that! Let's have a good fight. If we win, we'll take more land; if we lose, we'll take less. That should be enough to explain ourselves, right?"

"Explain? Explain to whom?" Ying Feng keenly grasped the key words in the other party's words.

"What else could it be but reporting to the King!" Qielan smiled slyly. "Remember the story you told me? Without hares, the hunting dogs will be eaten, the birds will be shot down, and the bows will be hidden away. A general who only thinks about how to win battles will not have a good end!"

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The tower stands on the island, its reflection shimmering on the calm blue lake. A northerly wind blows, rippling the water like playful children chasing each other. Dragon blood trees grow along the shore, lush and verdant, the ground littered with fallen fruit. Beyond the forest lies a village, or rather, the ruins of one.

Duan Wei set up his camp on an island not far from the lake shore. He liked this place very much. There was a temple on the island dedicated to an unknown deity. The Funan people used bamboo, wood, and reeds to build their dwellings, while they used stones to build the abode of the gods. With a little modification, this place could become an excellent fortification. Combined with the lake, it could easily defeat an enemy siege. Moreover, this island was less than two kilometers away from the Funan capital. Standing on the tower, he could clearly see the enemy's siege and freely deploy troops to attack the enemy's supply lines and camps from the outside.

"That's the meaning of 'defend the strategic pass, not the main wall'!" Duan Wei explained loudly to his men, "The enemy has many soldiers, while we have few. If we leave these two thousand men inside the city, the enemy might not be able to take it for a while. But if they build a long siege wall to isolate the inside from the outside, and then build a wall on both the inner and outer sides and station troops there, even if my brother leads troops to arrive, it will be very troublesome! As long as we stay on the island and keep in sync with the capital day and night with beacon fires, when the enemy builds a siege wall, we will harass them; when the enemy attacks the east, we will attack the west; when they send troops to attack us, we will hold our ground on the island. In this way, they will not be able to concentrate their attack on one corner. Although victory is not guaranteed, even though the enemy is numerous, it will be difficult to defeat them!"

"That's right, staying in the city is definitely not an option! If the city doesn't fall, it's fine, but once it falls, everything will perish!"

"Yes, it's better to be more flexible outside the city!"

The officers all agreed. Yu Wen remained silent, thinking to himself that it was not surprising they did not want to stay in the city, since no one wanted to perish together with the Funan people.

“However, we can’t just stay on the island and do nothing!” Duan Wei laughed. “The defenders of a city are most afraid of being isolated and helpless. I’ve inspected the Funan people’s capital. The walls are very strong, and we have enough food, weapons, and manpower. What we fear most is that the people inside the city will become disorganized. So, no matter what, we must cause some trouble for the barbarians besieging the city every day. The bigger the commotion, the better!”

Duan Wei did not break his promise in this matter. After the Ju-ting people surrounded the capital, the Han army's harassment became more and more frequent. Arson, interception, various traps, and night raids came one after another. The Ju-ting general acted cautiously and resolutely. He divided his army into two parts. One part was fully armed and prepared to resist the enemy's attack. The other part used various tools to dig a trench and piled the excavated soil on the inside of the trench to form an earthen mound.

The slow yet resolute actions of the Ju-ting people put immense pressure on the defenders within the city. Anyone with eyes could see that despite frequent attacks from the Han army outside, the besiegers' trenches continued to extend slowly but relentlessly. If nothing unexpected happened, the Ju-ting siege would be completed in five to six days, severing the city's connection to the outside world and leaving the defenders isolated and helpless.

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royal palace.

"Prime Minister, we must do something!" the Queen asked anxiously.

“Your Majesty, there is no need to worry!” The prime minister’s voice was firm and steady: “Commander Duan made it very clear before that we only need to guard the city walls, and leave the rest to him.”

"The people of Koko are surrounding us!" the Queen exclaimed urgently.

"We have enough food in the warehouse, enough soldiers to guard the area, and the Han reinforcements are arriving soon. It's better for us to drag this out!"

"You've entrusted all our lives to the Han people!" The Queen finally couldn't hold back any longer. "What if the Han reinforcements don't arrive before the Ju-ting people complete their encirclement? Then they'll have to use their own soldiers to fill in the trenches. What right do they have to do that? What if they withdraw their troops? Then we'll all become slaves of the Ju-ting people!"

"We have no choice!" the prime minister said with a bitter smile. "The garrison troops are all newly recruited; they can only be used to defend the city, not for open field battles. We can only place all our hopes on reinforcements from the Han people!"

(End of this chapter)