Lai Chuanfeng stood atop the walls of Yuezhou City, his mind churning with countless thoughts. No matter how he tried to fathom the Grand Marshal’s intentions, he couldn’t reconcile his duty as a soldier with such negative concepts as destruction and retreat. With three thousand brothers plus fourteen hundred prefecture soldiers, they could defend the small Yuezhou City so tightly that not even water could leak through. Never mind a gang of water bandits attacking the city—even if other elite military forces came to attack, he was confident he could hold this city for half a year without issue. Why would they waste a perfectly good defensible city instead of properly guarding it?
“General, your subordinate has already prepared the rolling logs, rocks, molten lead, and boiling oil. We’re just waiting for the bandits to arrive so we can give them a devastating blow. I hear there are tens of thousands of water bandits—I wonder if their heads count toward military merit?”
“They don’t count. Dead ones don’t count—only living ones do. For crippled ones, they’ll deduct from your military pay.” Hearing his subordinate platoon leader’s voice seeking credit, Lai Chuanfeng felt inexplicably irritated.
“What? How are we supposed to fight this battle, General? If the bandits climb up the walls, are you saying your humble subordinate should or shouldn’t kill them? Didn’t you say yesterday that we should impale the bandits on wooden stakes and display them by the lakeside as a warning?”
“Of course you should kill them. Remember this—no wounded, no injured. Once a bandit is wounded, you must finish them off immediately. Be quick about it, and don’t let the司马 see. These are the Grand Marshal’s specific orders.”
Restricting a general’s freedom to adapt on the battlefield was completely suicidal. Even the most foolish commander wouldn’t issue such an order to subordinates about to enter battle. Marquis Yun had always been wise and would never have a moment of insanity. There must be something here that a simple-minded person like himself couldn’t understand.
The orders Liu Renyuan received were different—thoroughly, decisively, and completely eliminate all water bandits who dared to resist. If necessary, leave none alive.
Zhangsun Chong’s Dingwu Army was stationed not far away at Baling, with six thousand armored soldiers sufficient to handle any emergencies. This was also the main reason why Yun Ye could so brazenly tell Lai Chuanfeng that they needed to capture living water bandits.
The navy’s giant warships began encircling Junshan as planned, with the command vessel Mulan floating on the lake surface like a mountain, charging toward the water bandits who came to meet them in battle. Small boats against large ships meant nothing but fire attacks. Long grappling hooks extended from the giant vessels to hold off the fire ships, then massive stones were dropped onto them. The fire ships were smashed open, and surging lake water flooded up from the bottom of the hulls. The fire ships couldn’t hold out long before spinning and sinking into the water, leaving only oil-soaked grass balls still burning on the surface.
Fire ships continuously poured out from the water fortress, their sails billowing with wind, their bows bristling with enormous iron spikes as they charged forward on the wind. This time, some ships began showing signs of truly desperate bandits personally manning the rudders, howling in desperation, wanting to perish together with the large ships.
Thick smoke billowed across the lake surface. The government’s large ships had to retreat five li, wanting to wait for those fire ships to burn out naturally. Using fire attacks on such a wide lake surface—who knew whose foolish idea that was? Liu Renyuan spat but said nothing, just standing on the deck watching as the water bandits’ vessels of all sizes fled for their lives.
“Master Han, your predictions were remarkably accurate. The government forces indeed opened a clear path. They think our fierce assault on Yuezhou is a failed strategy, not knowing that I never expected these people to survive. As long as we thoroughly and decisively destroy Yuezhou, our plan will be achieved.”
Liu Fang looked somewhat sorrowfully at those water bandits charging forward one after another, patting the railing without speaking. Han Zhe continued: “The Great Master is also a wise man of the world, so why can’t he see through the fundamental nature of this world? When directing men, heaven and earth and all things are for my use—what do mere tens of thousands of water bandits matter? The mortal world is neither large nor small, and the distance between life and death is always just a thin line. Being too attached will only allow inner demons to multiply—what’s the point?”
Liu Fang forced out a sentence from his throat with difficulty: “Young master is a divine being, naturally able to view these matters with detachment, but this old slave is different. Yesterday a young brother smiled and gave me an orange, which I found very sweet. Today I must send him to his death, making this old slave’s heart somewhat uncomfortable. The day before, a young brother helped this old slave board the ship, and today I must send him to his death, adding another bit of discomfort to my heart. Some days ago, an old brother close to this old slave’s age shared a gourd of inferior wine with me at sunset, and today I must send him to his death, so this old slave’s discomfort has accumulated greatly. Young master, now you want me to cast all this aside—may I ask how can I cast it aside, how could I possibly cast it aside?”
“What do you intend to do?” Han Zhe looked at Liu Fang with mockery, quite interested to see what he would do.
“Young master is divine. As soon as you arrived at Dongting Lake, you began a great slaughter, easily subduing over twenty groups of water bandits. You used financial temptations and promises of fame and profit, stopping at nothing. Han Nu’s brutal and fierce display by Xie Lake terrified everyone, and Dongting Lake truly became yours, young master. Government troops are water, water bandits are stones—water always flows past eventually, but stones will forever stand unmoved in place. Now our situation is excellent—why must we destroy everyone?”
“This old slave is advanced in years, with methods not as ruthless as yours, young master, and wisdom not as high as yours. I’m also someone who fears death, held in the palm of your hand unable to move. This old slave is absolutely certain that in this great camp, the only one I can command is myself. Even my guards have probably become your people now, haven’t they, young master?”
As soon as Liu Fang’s words left his mouth, Han Zhe burst into loud laughter. Watching the water bandits charge forward one after another to battle the government navy, he clapped his hands and said: “I thought you could endure much longer, but it turns out you’re only this much. I overestimated you after all. Could the desire to truly control these water bandits actually make you forget how terrifying death is?”
At this moment, Han Nu actually stood up. One of them put a wooden ball in his mouth and dragged his iron chains with a clanking sound as he walked over, his small eyes staring fixedly at Liu Fang. With just one word from Han Zhe, Liu Fang would be unable to escape the fate of becoming a puddle of meat paste.
The slaughter on the lake surface continued. The water bandits’ shrill wails kept carrying over. The dense formation of small boats was gradually thinning out, but with a massive fleet of thirty thousand water bandits, there was no way the government forces could completely devour them without two days’ time. Yun Ye didn’t have the courage to let these water bandits split into many groups, leaving future troubles. Han Zhe had been clear from the beginning—the only reason Yun Ye could tolerate water bandits forming organized groups under his very nose was that he intended to settle the great marsh in one battle. Otherwise, there was no explaining Yun Ye’s tolerance. Yun Ye just hadn’t expected there would be so many water bandits—this was his only oversight, and this one point would plunge him into irreversible disaster.
Liked the idea of pacifying the great marsh in one battle? Han Zhe felt happy thinking about this. If there were only thirty thousand water bandits, he would run as far away as possible. Even if it meant going back to be mocked by the old man, he absolutely wouldn’t take the risk. But now there were sixty thousand—wouldn’t that be rather less enjoyable?
From the very beginning, Han Zhe never thought of competing with Yun Ye in wisdom. He had a deep understanding of himself, and the old man had also passed judgment on Yun Ye—namely, that he himself couldn’t match Yun Ye. Though very unwilling to admit it, countless facts left Han Zhe unable to say that he was more intelligent than Yun Ye.
If you’re not as smart as someone else, then use the most straightforward method to achieve your goal. Thirty thousand men to resist the navy, thirty thousand men to attack Yuezhou—not even needing to capture Yuezhou City, just turning it into scorched earth would suffice. No tricks, just kill your way through directly like this. Regardless of casualties, even if it meant filling ditches with corpses, Yuezhou must be taken.
Taking Han Nu along, having Liu Fang’s guards escort him, they together boarded the last ship. Thirty thousand water bandits, a mighty force heading toward Yuezhou. This journey was only a hundred li—with favorable wind and current, it wouldn’t even take a full day.
Liu Renyuan was extremely depressed. These water bandits hadn’t come to fight—they’d come to die. The trebuchets and eight-ox crossbows had just capsized one ship, using powerful crossbows to pick off the water bandits who fell into the water one by one, when two more fairly large ships arrived. He discovered that before it was his turn to cut down water bandits, those on the two large ships had already started killing each other.
A burly man in blue robes wielding a horizontal blade was cutting left and right through the crowd of water bandits. Though facing over a dozen water bandits alone, a cold smile still played at the corner of his mouth. The job of forcing people to their deaths wasn’t easy—you had to kill a few troublemakers to establish authority.
One stroke of his left blade sliced off a large piece of flesh and skin from a water bandit. His right fist had already smashed into another water bandit’s neck, the sound of breaking neck bones clearly audible. After he had finished killing all the troublemakers who challenged him, the remaining water bandits could only lower their heads and brave the rain of arrows, struggling to close with the government forces. Only in close combat was there a sliver of hope for survival.
Faced with the water bandits’ utterly reckless attacks, Liu Renyuan had no choice but to pull his formation back to reduce his own casualties. The water bandits let out a shout and continued biting at the government forces’ tail, entangling them relentlessly.
Two days? Liu Renyuan thought the Grand Marshal’s order to eliminate these people within two days was really insulting. He had originally thought that once the water bandits saw the battle going poorly, they would scatter and flee as before. In that case, trying to catch them all would be a fool’s dream. But judging from the current situation, even if he wanted to flee, these water bandits would bite down hard and not let go. It was unclear which side was actually stronger.
Han Cheng and Qian Sheng once again rode horses through Yuezhou City on patrol. In the distant sky, three columns of smoke had already risen, indicating that the water bandits had come ashore and were rapidly approaching the city.
The city was completely empty, with only soldiers preparing for battle. Lai Chuanfeng shouted again and again, telling those young prefecture soldiers not to panic, just to follow his movements.
Once troops exceed ten thousand, they become boundless. How great a psychological shock would thirty thousand fierce bandits cause the defending forces? Lai Chuanfeng and Yang Yueming knew very well. The local prefecture soldiers going into battle for the first time were about to face their life’s first battle.