After the autumn equinox came late autumn in September, and regions north of the Yangtze River successively entered the autumn grain harvest season.
No matter how thick the war clouds looming over the north bank of the Huai River were, Huaixi still maintained its proper stability.
Traveling north from Donghu in early August, from what he saw and heard along the way, Li Xiu knew that Han Qian’s decisive deployment in early year of tens of thousands of able-bodied men to construct and fortify embankments and dig flood channels in Shou and Huo provinces in response to Liang Shixiong opening the Yu River great embankment at Xingyang—though initially appearing somewhat excessive in reaction, with the Tangyi Commissioner’s Office investing money and grain as high as over a million strings of cash—by May proved that Han Qian’s numerous early-year deployments were necessary and timely.
Although Li Xiu didn’t know specific data, from what he saw along the way and after they arrived in the Xiacai region, there were many transport teams composed of laborers recruited from the Shouchun and Huoqiu regions traveling north and south across the Huai River transporting supplies. The repair materials for the Li Family New Encampment and nearby roads and bridges had a considerable portion transported from the Shouchun and Huoqiu regions. Li Xiu thus knew that not only had grain fields in Shouchun, Huoqiu and other areas not been much affected by the great floods this summer and autumn, but Tangyi had also recruited refugees in these places and even newly reclaimed large tracts of grain fields, constructing batches of stone-clay kilns, lime kilns, iron smelting sites and other workshops.
This was perhaps where Han Qian’s confidence in fighting a decisive battle with enemy forces on the north bank of the Huai River lay!
Chen Xiu wore scale armor, hand pressing the saber at his waist, straddling the back of a Songfan warhorse, gazing out over the wilderness that was gradually acquiring a desolate feeling.
Behind him were over a hundred breakthrough squad officers and soldiers led by Cao Ba plus over two hundred new encampment local militia.
Although the military mission allocated to the new encampment local troops was to defend and construct the Li Family New Encampment, serving as the supporting point for Xiacai New City’s eastern flank defense line, not to mention Li Xiu—even Cao Ba was unwilling to be confined within a small camp enclosure.
At the end of August, a batch of military horses and Songfan warhorses were delivered to Xiacai. Cao Ba shamelessly snatched back over fifty Songfan warhorses plus over two hundred military horses, enabling Li Xiu to organize a three-hundred-man scale cavalry and infantry force that could enter the eastern region near the Guo River mouth for scout reconnaissance.
At this time, there were also groups of Xu-Si army scouts crossing the Guo River entering the eastern Xiacai region. Small-scale engagements between both sides occurred daily.
Although Tangyi’s reconnaissance and counter-infiltration operations were primarily undertaken by scout cavalry from main battle battalions, Li Xiu also proactively requested to lead forces in participating in small-scale counter-infiltration operations in the Xiacai eastern flank region.
Besides enabling new encampment local militia to take turns deploying to quickly adapt to pre-battle pressure, Li Xiu’s main purpose was still close-range observation of enemy forces’ infiltration and penetration intensity toward the west bank of the Guo River, as well as the composition of enemy scout cavalry, to speculate on the decisive battle’s progression.
Li Xiu was not in Tangyi’s mid-to-high-ranking officer sequence. As more and more troops crossed the Huai northward, the alert level of the North Camp and Xiacai New City grew higher and higher, while the activity area of new encampment local militia was restricted more and more strictly. From late August onward, Li Xiu could no longer understand overall information about the Ying-Guo campaign, which made him uncomfortable all over.
Currently the Xiacai eastern flank region was still under Tangyi’s control. Whenever enemy scout cavalry crossed the river, counter-infiltration operations were equivalent to hunting. However, Li Xiu personally led the team every time they deployed to hunt enemy scouts, causing Cao Ba a bellyful of complaints.
“Over ten men and horses waded across from the Chenji Ford shallow water area—all Mengwu people!”
Two scouts disguised as hunters quickly passed through the wild grass, running to Li Xiu’s side to report their discovery from just now lurking at the Guo River bank.
Li Xiu’s expression lifted. The battlefield in the lower reaches of the Guo River finally saw the first appearance of Mengwu people. This meant Tian Cheng and Lin Haizheng’s progress on the northern line was fairly smooth, the Shouzhou army was weaker than imagined, and Wusu Dashi and Xiao Yiqing were deploying Mengwu cavalry main forces southward to launch decisive battle earlier than he anticipated—of course, it was also possible that Emperor Liang Zhu Yu had intensified his offensive in He-Luo, making it difficult for Liang Shixiong to hold out.
“Did the other scout cavalry routes detect this enemy cavalry crossing the river?” Cao Ba was more concerned whether they could independently devour these dozen-some Mengwu scouts, asking the two scouts.
“North of our lurking point, there’s an observation post from the Second Regiment Third Brigade. Don’t know if they saw this group of Mengwu scouts…” the scout said.
“Damn, they have looking glasses. This time don’t expect to eat alone. We need to hurry over there—don’t want to not even get a piece of meat!” Cao Ba ordered the breakthrough squad officers and soldiers behind him to all mount warhorses, preparing to follow him in attacking toward the great embankment direction, having other local militia cavalry and infantry spread out on both flanks to prepare for surrounding and catching dispersed routed soldiers.
Li Xiu didn’t stop Cao Ba from issuing orders and leading the breakthrough elite troops to strike first. He still gazed northward with a worried expression.
After half an incense stick’s time, no routed enemy soldiers fled west. Instead, they saw Cao Ba leading troops rushing back, with two officers and soldiers on his left and right each having a severed head hanging from one side of their saddles.
“We need to withdraw quickly. There’s a large group of enemy cavalry assembling behind the east bank mud embankment—a mass of black, probably over a thousand men. The small enemy cavalry group that crossed earlier was testing water depth and current. We charged over and killed two men,” Cao Ba shouted loudly, urging without stopping the cavalry and infantry here who weren’t very smooth at riding horses to quickly mount and retreat westward.
At this time, melodious, heavy horn sounds also came from afar, notifying near-shore scout troops to withdraw westward.
During Li Xiu’s retreat, they encountered scout cavalry from the Second Regiment Second Brigade, Tangyi’s 202nd Brigade, and a force under Dou Rong’s command, retreating together shoulder-to-shoulder toward Xiacai City direction.
Only then did Li Xiu learn from this scout cavalry force that along the east bank line of the Guo River lower reaches, four Mengwu thousand-man cavalry squads preparing to cross the river appeared simultaneously.
This not only meant Mengwu cavalry would enter the west bank of the Guo River lower reaches earlier than they anticipated, but from today enemy forces would begin crossing the river on a large scale—four Mengwu thousand-man cavalry squads were merely vanguard troops covering the enemy main forces’ westward crossing.
Tangyi’s main battle battalions’ message transmission speed was clearly faster than Li Xiu imagined. When they withdrew with the 202nd Brigade scout cavalry squad to near the new encampment, they saw from afar in the direction of Xiacai City several groups of cavalry and infantry in battalion-sized units moving north along the newly repaired post road north of Xiacai.
“What are they doing?” Cao Ba couldn’t help asking somewhat puzzled.
News that large-scale Mengwu cavalry were about to cross the Guo River should have already reached Han Qian’s headquarters. Even if organizing troops to first fight the enemy, troops from Xiacai City and the north bank camp should be moving east or northeast rather than straight north in light equipment.
“These are troops being dispatched to strengthen the relief army for Bian’s side and rear flanks…” Li Xiu said with furrowed brows.
“At this time, the relief army for Bian only needs to contract south several dozen li. What troops need reinforcement to strengthen side and rear flanks?” Cao Ba asked uncomprehendingly.
“What if after capturing Dan County city, the relief army for Bian intends to continue northward?” Li Xiu, not in the mid-to-high ranking officer sequence, could only speculate on Han Qian’s true intentions as Tangyi Commissioner’s Office supreme commander based on signs he observed. “Drawing enemy main forces and combat focus completely from the east bank of the Guo River to the southern line creates convenient conditions for covering Bianjing military and civilian southward withdrawal along the Chen-Bian post road. This is probably the Marquis of Qianyang’s true intent. Therefore, only needing to assemble sufficiently thick forces along the Dan County-Wuting line to delay and intercept enemy main forces south of Dan County, not allowing their main forces opportunity to penetrate to both flanks of the Chen-Ji post road, there’s still opportunity to evacuate Bianjing’s over a hundred thousand military and civilians via docks on the south side of the Chen-Ji post road to the west bank of the Ying River! Perhaps the Marquis of Qianyang and Emperor Liang recognized early on that Bianjing could no longer be held, but Bianjing’s over a hundred thousand military and civilians are too critically important to Liang army officers and soldiers’ morale for continued combat participation in the future—they must be safely evacuated!”
“This is just too risky,” Cao Ba said. Although demoted under Li Xiu’s command to serve as breakthrough squad leader, and though he preferred leading fierce troops in charging into battle, his overall strategic vision was still above ordinary military officers. Despite his fierceness and fearlessness, at this time he still felt traces of alarm, clicking his tongue. “The Chen-Bian post road is too fragile. Enemy forces don’t need to deploy main forces—just a few thousand-man cavalry strike squads penetrating in could cause sufficient damage to the Chen-Bian post road, greatly delaying Bianjing military and civilians’ southward withdrawal speed. The Chen-Bian post road stretches nearly two hundred li. Even with Han Yuanqi and Kong Xirong’s forces combined, that’s only thirty thousand elite troops—impossible to protect the Chen-Bian post road without revealing a single crack. Once Bianjing military and civilians’ southward withdrawal speed is delayed, with enemy southern line main forces exerting full effort to attack the relief army for Bian’s flank from south to north, how long can the relief army for Bian hold out along the Dan County-Wuting line?”
“The Marquis of Qianyang habitually employs unorthodox strategies in warfare. Perhaps the Marquis of Qianyang is confident that the relief army for Bian main forces can hold out around Dan County and Wuting for sufficient time,” Li Xiu said. Though he also felt Han Qian was again taking too great a risk this time, what qualification did he have to say anything? The Li clan’s future was already intimately tied to Tangyi’s fate. At this time, he could only hope for better results.
Although Cao Ba felt Tangyi’s decision-making was too risky, he still couldn’t help but exclaim emotionally, “To evacuate Liang army ministers’ and officials’ dependents, Your Lordship is staking all of Tangyi’s foundation—truly admirable. But damn it, Cao Ye can’t go to Dan County—really fucking frustrating!”
Given current developments, Cao Ba could fully foresee that the most intense combat ahead would necessarily occur on the Dan County-Wuting battlefield where the relief army for Bian intercepted the southern line enemy main forces’ northward movement. He only regretted he couldn’t be transferred to participate in battle around Dan County and Wuting at this time.
“His Lordship will definitely order Xiacai troops to fully support the relief army for Bian, while enemy forces will definitely spare no effort to sever the relief army for Bian’s contact with Xiacai. We won’t lack hard battles to fight. What’s Cao Ye complaining about?” the 202nd Brigade scout squad leader laughed.
Having led clan members into Xiacai for just over a month, Li Xiu’s deepest impression of Tangyi’s army was that even squad-level junior officers like scout cavalry soldiers had quite good tactical and strategic vision—Han Qian’s early all-out efforts establishing various schools was too critical for Tangyi’s cultivation and reserves of grassroots talent.
Li Xiu had previously verified credentials with this scout squad leader, only knowing his name was Zhou Bao. Seeing he would temporarily lead his squad to patrol and reconnoiter enemy situation near the Li Family New Encampment, he invited him to lead over twenty scout cavalry into the new encampment for brief rest. Only then did he learn Zhou Bao was a mountain stronghold faction member who had migrated from Jun Province to Guang Province at year’s end, and by generation should count as a clan nephew of Guang Province Governor and Military Commissioner Zhou Dan.
“What’s the situation in Guang Province now?” Li Xiu asked Zhou Bao.
In these years, Guang Province’s four counties had suffered most severe population loss due to war. When he withdrew troops from Luoshan, Qisi and other areas with Li Zhigao, Guang Province’s registered civilian households numbered less than thirty thousand. Even with fifteen to sixteen thousand mountain stronghold affiliated people all migrating into Guang Province at year’s end, registered civilian households should only be around fifty thousand—not even matching a medium-sized county in Jiangdong.
Of course, Li Xiu knew that from April-May when the Yu River great flood seized the Huai via the Ying River, Han Qian had built several large refugee camps in Guang Province accepting disaster victims migrating south from the west bank of the Ying River, but he knew nothing about more specific situations.
Zhou Bao also clearly understood Li Xiu and Cao Ba’s identities, quite respectfully informing them of some current Guang Province situations.
By the end of August, Guang Province had accepted disaster households fleeing south from the west bank of the Ying River, expanding population to one hundred thirty thousand. Total cultivated land area had also increased to nine hundred thousand mu, of which grain planting exceeded seven hundred thousand mu. After autumn grain harvest, it would achieve grain self-sufficiency—the situation was far better than outsiders anticipated.
Although Zhou Bao was merely a scout cavalry squad leader, in main battle battalions he was cultivated as a backbone officer, knowing news even more comprehensive than Li Xiu. At this time, he didn’t mind honestly relating some things he knew.
From April onward this summer and autumn season, although Chu and Hao provinces suffered quite severe flooding, the two provinces’ population was only just over one hundred twenty thousand. Current cultivated land and civilian households were minimally affected by flood disaster—total flooded fields were only one hundred ten to twenty thousand mu. But through reclaiming new fields for garrison farming, not only was this all compensated for, total cultivated land area even newly increased seventy to eighty thousand mu.
The central and southern Huaixi provinces and counties’ overall population and cultivated land remained stable, slightly increasing compared to last year. Main energy was still placed on developing mining and industry.
Because Shou, Huo, and Guang provinces’ newly increased planting cultivated land since spring and summer was primarily irrigated land, this actually made Huaixi’s total autumn grain yield increase quite significantly this year, not to mention various primary industrial products’ production.
Therefore, even though Li Xiu was quite worried about this campaign’s outcome, grassroots officers from main battle battalions like Zhou Bao held quite optimistic attitudes about the future.
“We privately discuss and think that based on enemy forces’ current deployment, they very likely will deploy the Xu-Si army and Weizhou rebel cavalry to lie across Xiacai’s east and north, cutting off Xiacai’s connection with the relief army for Bian main forces. The southward Mengwu cavalry main forces joining with the assembled Shouzhou army main forces will attack the relief army for Bian to the north. This battle—who lives and who dies—truly has no foregone conclusion!” Zhou Bao said quite optimistically.
Li Xiu smiled slightly, but in his heart thought: the westward-advancing Xu-Si army and southward Weizhou cavalry currently totaled approximately forty thousand troops. Tangyi had assembled twenty thousand elite combat power and ten thousand local militia auxiliary troops in Xiacai, and with city fortifications could flexibly advance and retreat—naturally they could be said to be in an invincible position. But once decisive battle began, could the relief army for Bian main forces on the west bank of the Guo River with only one or two dilapidated city fortifications to rely on and far from abundant supplies and provisions truly drag the Shouzhou army and Mengwu cavalry with double their troop strength for a month or even longer?
Entering September, both sides’ combat intentions surfaced. The subsequent battle situation evolution also basically didn’t deviate from Li Xiu, Cao Ba, and Zhou Bao’s judgments.
Mengwu cavalry crossing the Guo River primarily still covered the Xu-Si army and Weizhou cavalry’s westward advance. Afterward, Mengwu cavalry rapidly advanced north. After the Xu-Si army and Weizhou cavalry joined forces, over forty thousand troops from east to west pressed toward the North Bank Camp, Xiacai City, and the Li Family New Encampment.
Tangyi forces on the north bank of course also couldn’t completely retreat to defend city fortifications, allowing the Xu-Si army to smoothly construct camp fortifications in Xiacai’s eastern flank and northern regions, thereby severing Xiacai’s connection with Dan County.
With backs against city fortifications and the Huai River, Tangyi’s main battle battalions actively deployed, time and again on the wilderness blocking and intercepting the Xu-Si army and Weizhou cavalry’s advance direction, beating them back to along the Guo River, preventing them from spreading forces in Xiacai’s northern region to form an effective severing defense line.
The Li Family New Encampment didn’t suffer direct enemy attack. Li Xiu led the new encampment local militia whose combat capability couldn’t be called very strong—they also didn’t futilely guard within the encampment. Even if they couldn’t undertake vanguard battalion combat missions, they were deployed multiple times on vanguard troops’ flanks to block enemy flanking attacks.
Although unclear whether on the enemy side it was Wusu Dashi or Xiao Yiqing commanding from Guoyang, they wouldn’t hesitate in their offensive against the relief army for Bian main forces entering Dan County’s northern region due to southern line Xu-Si army’s delayed progress.
In mid-September, the Shouzhou army proactively abandoned Dan County’s ruined city that had been beaten utterly destroyed over more than a month. But remnant forces didn’t retreat north to Wuting and Xinji fortifications. Even together with Wuting and Xinji fortifications’ garrison troops, they all withdrew east to the riverside cities of Luyi and Bo.
At this time, enemy intentions were extremely clear—yielding the passage for the relief army for Bian to advance north, moving main forces including the Shouzhou army via the Guo River southward to join with Mengwu cavalry and fill into the region south of Dan County.
At this moment, scouts infiltrating and lurking on the east bank of the Guo River also roughly tallied the southward Mengwu cavalry main forces—a full forty-some thousand elite cavalry who, together with Shouzhou army main forces, like tides crossed the river from the east bank region of the Guo River to penetrate into Dan County’s southern region.
From Dan County ruined city southward to the Huai River north bank—a north-south approximately one hundred fifty to sixty li, east-west approximately one hundred twenty li depth region—the Mengwu people united with Weizhou rebel army, Shouzhou army, and Xu-Si army in total over one hundred thirty thousand powerful forces with the objective of cutting off the connection between Zhang County and Xiacai.
In fact, once Mengwu cavalry main forces entered the west bank of the Guo River, this intention had already been realized. No matter how strong Tangyi’s army was, they couldn’t compete with coordinated infantry-cavalry enemy forces several times their number on the wilderness north of Xiacai.
They could only watch helplessly as the Xu-Si army used east-west running gullies and river valleys to establish intercepting defense lines in Xiacai’s northern region.
Although these gullies and river valleys couldn’t be called very wide or deep, flood waters had passed through in summer. At this time, with floodwaters receded, large amounts of muddy slurry accumulated in low-lying areas on both banks, forming obstacles to north-south troop movement—of course, muddy slurry and muddy ground on both banks of the Ying River was even more extensive, and moreover of full-coverage nature. Besides the Chen-Bian post road, this single fragile passage, one almost couldn’t find the possibility of transporting troops across thirty to fifty li depth to the Ying River main channel. The Xu-Si army only needed to establish solid defenses at a few high terrain locations to effectively suppress Tangyi’s south-to-north offensive.
Although Bianjing military and civilians took advantage of western flank enemy emptiness to begin withdrawing southward in mid-September under the cover of twenty thousand garrison troops, enemy forces assembled superior forces in Dan County’s southern region, biting down hard on the relief army for Bian main forces entrenched in Dan County’s northern region and the Wuting area covering the Chen-Bian post road’s eastern flank, launching extremely fierce offensives.
After mid-September, only excellent scout couriers could penetrate enemy blockade lines to travel between Dan County and Xiacai, or else rely on carrier pigeon messages and take water routes via the Ying River bypassing to the south side of the Chen-Bian post road to transmit intelligence reports.
After mid-September, it was confirmed that two Mengwu thousand-man elite cavalry squads directly penetrated into both flank regions of the Chen-Bian passage.
From Bianjing southward to Wanqiu’s Ying River north bank, the Chen-Bian post road stretched one hundred ninety li in total length. Relying solely on the twenty thousand cavalry and infantry commanded by Han Yuanqi and Chen Kun, it was impossible to completely cover the Chen-Bian post road.
Penetrating enemy cavalry also couldn’t engage in frontal combat with Bianjing garrison troops but rather utilized cavalry’s high mobility, splitting into several groups to penetrate on both sides of the Chen-Bian passage. This actually severed the pace of over a hundred thousand unarmed women and children withdrawing southward, forcing them to retreat into large and small city fortifications with wall protection along the route to await opportunity.
At this time, the relief army for Bian could only divide out over ten thousand elite cavalry and infantry from Wuting and Dan County’s northern region to extend defense lines over a wider northern range, limiting harassing enemy cavalry’s activity range so that Bianjing military and civilians’ southward withdrawal could intermittently continue.
By the end of September, Li Xiu learned with certainty that only just over fifty thousand women and children had withdrawn south via the Chen-Bian post road then crossed the Ying River to evacuate to the west bank. At this time, seeing that the combat will of Tangyi forces (relief army for Bian) and Bianjing garrison troops on the northern line had been ground down almost completely, enemy forces assembled thirty thousand infantry and cavalry to penetrate into Wanqiu’s northern region, directly severing the Chen-Bian passage.
The relief army for Bian could only abandon all war equipment and supplies in Dan County and Wuting fortifications, having Generals Wen Bo and Tan Xiuqun each lead eight thousand elite troops to defend like two reefs amidst raging waves, maximally delaying and dragging down the southern line enemy main forces’ movement speed. Twenty thousand elite main forces rapidly disengaged from the southern battlefield to advance north, intending to join with Bianjing garrison troops, the advance army led by Kong Xirong, and ten thousand troops that had moved north earlier—concentrating sixty thousand superior forces to go all-out in annihilating within the shortest time the enemy forces that had penetrated to the southern line of the Chen-Bian passage.
However, Dan County and Wuting, with total forces of only sixteen thousand troops, might have no problem defending the cities in the short term, but wanting to drag down as many as one hundred thousand enemy forces south and east of Dan County—how could that possibly be achieved?
On October 3rd, the Frost Descent season, Li Xiu in Xiacai felt the weather clearly turning from cool to cold. With howling north winds whistling, officers and soldiers all donned cold-weather clothing.
Intelligence reports transmitted back from the northern line for consecutive days all stated that several thousand enemy cavalry had bypassed Wuting and Dan County ruined city to enter Wanqiu’s northern region, bringing enemy infantry and cavalry severing the Chen-Bian passage to over fifty thousand.
Even though at this moment Kong Xirong’s forces had six thousand elite combat troops south of these enemy forces—this direction couldn’t arrange more forces; rising above left and right flood zones and muddy ground, the Chen-Bian post road was only about two zhang wide, so more forces couldn’t spread northward to attack enemy forces—after Tian Cheng and Lin Haizheng led the relief army for Bian main forces to join with Han Yuanqi and Chen Kun, over fifty thousand cavalry and infantry had assembled north of enemy forces, that is, in the central region of the Chen-Bian passage. But so hastily, in flatland regions more favorable to Mengwu people’s large-scale cavalry warfare for decisive battle, Li Xiu doubted whether they could have thirty percent chance of victory.
In the afternoon, Li Xiu left Cao Ba to guard the new encampment. He led Li Chi to the already-completed Xiacai City to find Feng Xuan to receive new combat mission assignments. Walking into the front office courtyard and seeing guards standing in rows, peering in to see the figures of Han Qian, Feng Liao, Guo Rong, Wen Muqiao and others, he was curious what they were doing in Xiacai, positioned more forward, rather than at the north bank camp.
Li Xiu didn’t want to cause misunderstanding, so he and Li Chi stood outside the office hall waiting to be summoned.
“Oh, you’ve come,” Han Qian said, seeing Li Xiu peering from outside the courtyard. He directly called out loud inviting them into the office hall to speak. “Bianjing military and civilians can all withdraw to Yanling and Xihua within these two days, then cross the Ying River to evacuate to the west bank. Han Yuanqi’s forces and the relief army for Bian main forces will also synchronously withdraw. The subsequent mopping-up combat difficulty of this battle is receiving the troops trapped in heavy encirclement defending Dan County and Wuting cities. The relief army for Bian main forces need time to withdraw. Xiacai’s defensive situation ahead will also be very difficult and severe. Main battle battalions temporarily can’t be transferred. I’m preparing to organize new encampment local militia into a division to first accompany the navy into the Danxi River mouth northwest of Dan County, watching for opportunity to support the two forces of Wen Bo and Tan Xiuqun defending Dan County and Wuting…”
“With the Chen-Bian passage cut, there are still one hundred twenty to thirty thousand Bianjing military and civilians plus over fifty thousand troops from both armies to the north. How can they evacuate by water route after withdrawing to Yanling and Xihua?” Chen Xiu asked in shock. “Could Tangyi have opened another passage through the flood zone reaching close to the Ying River main channel besides the Chen-Bian post road?”
West and north of the Chen-Bian post road, in Yanling and Xihua counties in northwestern Chen Province and western Xu Province territory, the flood zone at its widest had thirty to fifty li depth, at its narrowest fifteen to sixteen li depth.
In ordinary flatland regions, conscripting ten to twenty thousand able-bodied laborers could very conveniently construct a broad thoroughfare. But in the flood zone, with muddy ground or wetlands on both flanks, able-bodied laborers had nowhere to stand. They could only excavate earth and stone seventeen to eighteen li away, bit by bit filling into the flood zone muddy ground, while also concealing from Mengwu scout surveillance and avoiding Mengwu cavalry raids. How many years and months would this road require to possibly be completed?
No matter how capable Han Qian was, he couldn’t point his finger and make thin muddy slurry turn into solid earth and stone!
Normally speaking, shouldn’t they wait another month until the weather became thoroughly frigid and the muddy ground and river water on both banks of the Ying River completely froze solid before having possibility of westward withdrawal without using the Chen-Bian post road? Weren’t both sides competing for this final month of time?