The Soldier of the Red Mansion

Chapter 225 Ambition
Zhang Can loved this feeling the most; he preferred leading cavalry to fight the Japanese pirates in the southeast to fighting them.

"Leave no one behind!"

Treat the enemy with the coldness of winter, instilling despair and fear in them, and utterly annihilate them. This is a saying that Zhang Can greatly admires. The general is not a fool; he can distinguish between what is important and what is not.

Zhang Can liked this kind of general even more.

Zhang Can felt uneasy if someone was too benevolent, and equally uneasy if someone was too cold-blooded.

"Here!"

The soldiers around Zhang Can shouted in a low voice.

More than a hundred Hu cavalrymen could not retreat and charged into battle against the armored cavalry with gritted teeth. Although they were prepared to die, due to the disparity in equipment, they were willing but unable to fight back. They fell from their horses with their eyes wide open and died, leaving behind only corpses.

After only a few exchanges, the cavalrymen collapsed.

The remaining Hu cavalry fled in disarray, leaving their backs to the enemy, no longer caring about the tribe behind them.

With a "thud," the spear pierced the Taiji's abdomen, causing him to fall from his horse and crash heavily to the ground. He could only see the horse's hooves in his eyes, and soon lost consciousness. Blood trickled out, dripping down the spearhead into the grass.

Seeing that the situation was already decided, and in order to achieve the greatest possible victory, Zhang Can shouted, "All units, launch an attack!"

Following Zhang Can's command, the cavalry units, led by their captains, broke into smaller groups and charged towards the tribe. Tents were trampled one after another, and those Hu people who still wanted to drive away cattle and sheep and preserve their wealth died because of their own greed. Many more could only abandon everything, mount their horses, and flee for their lives.

A tribe of a few hundred people was razed to the ground in a short time during the battle.

At least half of the troops were killed or wounded. After taking stock of the battlefield, the cavalry gave the wounded Hu soldiers a quick death, without mistreating them. At least a hundred or so people escaped, so the tribe didn't have many horses left, but mostly cattle and sheep.

In order to finish the battle quickly, even though the wagon camp was right behind them, there was still not enough time. Zhang Can reluctantly ordered most of the cattle and sheep to be killed, and only took the horses to continue advancing along the Rabbit Hair River.

The team included experienced hunters who could identify cattle and sheep and determine the time based on footprints in the grass, and use the time of the footprints to judge whether there were any tribes nearby.

Zhang Can spared no one from any tribe belonging to the Shanyu tribe.

Although they couldn't attack the city of Shanyu, they couldn't let go of the tribes near the Zhou Dynasty. These were all part of Shanyu's strength, and eliminating one would weaken Shanyu's power. Although he didn't know what the general planned to do, Zhang Can didn't care and would just follow the general's orders.

The cattle and sheep are slaughtered, and the blood of the livestock flows all over the grassland. Next year, the grassland will probably be very fertile.

The soldiers couldn't bear to do it.

"It's such a pity that perfectly healthy cattle and sheep are being slaughtered like this."

"We can't take it with us, there's nothing we can do."

"What's there to regret? Not at all."

The crowd discussed animatedly, their faces beaming with smiles. One person rode two horses, his armor rolled up and placed on the back of another horse. The grasslands here were fertile, providing ample fodder for the horses, so they didn't need to worry about it.

After cleaning up the spoils, everyone rested and let the horses recover their strength.

However, one-third of his comrades remained fully armed, ready to defend against enemy attacks at any time. Their delay allowed everyone to put their armor back on and regain their fighting strength.

"Didn't we still manage to acquire dozens of horses?"

"It's better than nothing, isn't it?"

"Look, there are a few shadows on that hillside," someone pointed in that direction and shouted.

Cavalry had already rushed over.

"It's useless. They're just some stragglers looking for revenge. It's hard to catch them, but keeping them at a distance will only annoy you. There's no other way. Just be on guard."

Fighting a war is never easy, whether it's marching or anything else, even if you win.

The men were all veterans, with few new recruits, and were used to such sights, so they paid no attention to the enemies lurking around them.

After resting for half a day, Zhang Can gathered the entire army and continued onward, hoping to find the next tribe. That's the downside of the grasslands; without a clear destination, one has to search aimlessly.

Fifty or sixty miles away.

Wang Xin and his chariots advanced slowly, following the tracks left by the cavalry. They arrived at the site the next day and saw the ruins scattered all over the ground. He ordered his soldiers to clean up the battlefield and bury the corpses.

The wagon train was slow and couldn't keep up with the cavalry. They set off as a precaution.

In the event that the cavalry encounters a large enemy force, they can retreat to the wagon camp behind them. With the wagon camp as a guide, the danger to the cavalry will be greatly reduced. Although, in theory, this sudden attack, being in an area close to the Great Zhou, should not have resulted in encountering a large enemy force.

However, war requires extreme caution, as no one knows what will happen next. Therefore, war is a very grueling thing. If war were enjoyable, the sons of noble families would not have fallen into poverty, and ordinary people would not have had a chance to rise to prominence.

According to his plan, he set off from Tuanshan, followed the fertile grasslands of Tu Maochuan, and went all the way to the vicinity of Weiyuan Pass to clear out the forces belonging to the Shanyu tribe in this area.

They can rebel if they want, or they can stabilize the Great Zhou if they want. Neither Ouyanhu nor the Chanyu misjudged the Great Zhou, but they misjudged themselves. Have they asked themselves the questions?

Since they were wrong, they had to pay the price. The wagon train maintained a speed of fifty li per day. On the fifth day, they passed Chiershan Mountain and planned to return to Datong from Weiyuan Pass on the eighth day. Now that they were out, they should naturally resolve the troubles at Weiyuan Pass as well.

"pity."

Liu Tong picked up the leather water bag, tilted his head back and took a big gulp of water, then put the bag down with a regretful look on his face, saying, "Such a favorable opportunity, yet we couldn't eliminate all the enemies."

Hearing Liu Tong's words, Wang Xin laughed and said, "Tribes are nomadic, and how far can a person's vision go? How can they accurately find every tribe? Besides relying on experienced hunters, it's all about luck."

Liu Tong asked curiously, "General, you're really unlucky."

The general always makes thorough preparations and strives for a decisive victory, without wasting time and energy. This time, his expedition to eliminate a few small tribes was insignificant to the Chanyu, but it wasn't entirely useless. However, the general wouldn't be so "petty" in his actions.

Upon hearing Liu Tong's question, Wang Xin remarked, "You understand me better and better."

Liu Tong shook his head. "General, you're mistaken. I understand you less and less. I can't figure out what you're up to."

"Kill the Chanyu."

Wang Xin said it casually.

Liu Tong was increasingly bewildered. Could this really kill the Chanyu? He looked on with disbelief.

There are ways to deal with smart people. Smart people always think they are great and are proud of their ability to manipulate people's hearts. In reality, it's just a competition of who has no bottom line.

Just like Sun Tzu's Art of War has been hailed as a military strategy classic, and regarded as a treasure both at home and abroad.

However, at that time, Sun Tzu's Art of War had no bottom line, leading to a moral decline.

But whether it's a bottom line or not, whether it's moral or not is not important. Many people have figured this out and think that morality is the most important thing. In fact, what's important is winning!

What is happiness?
Happiness is living a better life than others.

In times of poverty, the wealthy who could only afford to eat meat a few times a year were happier than the poor who went hungry. In times of abundance, the poor who ate meat every day still felt unhappy.

Therefore, the victors often have no bottom line.

The only difference is between inner sage and outer king, or inner king and outer sage.
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There are two border passes for trade in western Datong: Tuanshan Pass and Weiyuan Pass.

When Feng Yong was the military governor of Datong, Weiyuan Pass was even further away from Datong. For military reasons, Weiyuan Pass was the main trading post, so the commander of Weiyuan Pass was a relative of Feng Yong.

Feng Di is short in stature and was bullied since childhood. He only achieved his current success thanks to his uncle.

Standing atop the city gate, holding the order delivered by Wang Xin, Feng Di's expression was a mixture of emotions. Finally, he made up his mind and secretly ordered his men to summon two trusted confidants, both of whom were from his hometown.

“Take Wang Xin’s message to the Chanyu and tell him that this is a good opportunity to kill Wang Xin,” Feng Di whispered.

The two were shocked.

One of them couldn't help but warn, "If this is discovered, you'll be beheaded."

Feng Di knew this was no small matter, so he specially called his fellow townsman over and stared at the two men fiercely, saying, "Wang Xin forced the military commander to leave. Do you think he will let us go? Others might let us go, but we absolutely will not."

As Feng Yong's cousin, it's no wonder Wang Xin would tolerate him.

For both public and private reasons, he had to get rid of Wang Xin. He had worked so hard to get his current official position, and he couldn't just let it go like that.

The two fellow villagers had nothing to say. They had no connections and had always had a hard life. If Feng Di was taken away by Wang Xin, they wouldn't have a good life either. No one wanted to go back to their hometown.

Farming is hard work, but farming for others is even harder.

The distance from Shanyu City to Weiyuan Pass is only a couple hundred li. If they travel by horseback through the night, regardless of the horse's strength, they can arrive in two days at the latest, and in one day if they are fast. Hopefully, they can still make it in time. Feng Di was anxious as he calculated the date of Wang Xin's chariot camp.

If Wang Xin had been two or three days slower, things wouldn't have been so punctual.
He knew he was dissatisfied with him, yet he still made a special trip to Weiyuan Pass. Feng Di strongly suspected that the day this man came to Weiyuan was the day he ordered his removal from military post. Although he did not yet have that authority, the various regions had already tacitly accepted it.

Feng Di lacked confidence in dealing with Wang Xin and could only hope for the Xiongnu chieftain's help.

The Chanyu and Feng Yong had worked together and had a good relationship. Because of Wang Xin, not only did Feng Yong suffer losses, but the Chanyu's tribe also suffered huge losses. The Chanyu probably wanted revenge.

Once his trusted confidant had left, there was no turning back. Feng Di gritted his teeth, convinced that the Chanyu would not fail to come.

After eliminating Wang Xin, the court allowed the Xiongnu chieftain to enter the pass, causing the situation in Datong to collapse. The court had to allow the clan uncle to return to Datong to stabilize the situation. If the court hesitated, it meant that Datong was not chaotic enough.

A sudden inspiration struck Feng Di, and a smile appeared on his face.

My uncle isn't ruthless enough. If I were him, I would never leave Datong. Once I help my uncle return to Datong, with my merits, I should be able to get promoted to general.

These are all possibilities. The short-statured Feng Di's shadow was magnified under the light, as if it swallowed up the city tower behind him.

(End of this chapter)