Six thousand steppe light cavalry from Anyang. By scale, duration, and casualties, this engagement was not a major battle.

But it was enough to press Chu Army morale down a full notch.

“The ancient sages said: in war, winning hearts is the highest victory.”

Yuwen Shangyun paced back and forth in the command tent. His officers stood in silence and listened.

“Some people think ‘winning hearts’ means petty tricks — playing small games, saying cutting words.”

“But compared to what Tang Pidi did tonight, all those so-called methods of winning hearts fall short.”

He breathed out slowly, not wanting to lose his air — but his air had been beaten down the previous night.

“Deliberately abandoned the Ning Army’s southern camp. Deliberately let our forces cross the river unchallenged — all to make us believe they had no will to fight, no strength to fight.”

“Then the night raid: one strike to wreck our camp and kill our men… Tang Pidi built our confidence with his own hands, and then with his own hands struck it back down.”

“This engagement was nothing decisive for the larger campaign, and no crippling blow to our main force — but it is something he can boast of for half his life.”

Yuwen Shangyun stopped walking and looked at his officers. “Overconfidence — that is the root of our defeat in this engagement. And we were led into that overconfidence deliberately. Every step we took was into a trap he had set for us, every single one.”

“So all of you must remember: be ever vigilant. In any future engagement with the Ning forces — no matter how large or small, no matter the time or place — never allow a single thought of looking down on them. Even if our numbers are ten times, dozens of times greater than theirs, give everything you have.”

“Yes!”

His officers bowed their heads in acknowledgment.

“A few thousand light cavalry, and they dared to raid our entire main camp.”

Yuwen Shangyun said, “That’s not merely a question of nerve. It’s a question of ability.”

He gave the order: “Pull back ten miles. Rebuild the camp.”

His subordinates were all taken aback.

Pull back ten miles?

They had just lost a battle and lost their air — and now retreat ten more miles? They’d have lost their dignity as well.

If the Ning forces saw from the city walls that the Chu forces were pulling back to rebuild, wouldn’t they laugh themselves breathless?

“Supreme General…”

Someone wanted to remonstrate. They hadn’t even opened their mouths before Yuwen Shangyun cut them off with a wave. “No need for words. Follow the order. Anyone who disobeys will be executed.”

“Yes!”

The officers bent in acceptance again.

From the South Peace River to Anyang was roughly thirty miles. The Chu forces pulling back ten miles to camp seemed to violate every principle of field positioning — building camp with their backs to water, no retreat available.

On the walls of Anyang.

Tang Pidi lowered his spyglass, and out of habit, rested his hand on the wall, fingers tapping lightly again.

“They pull back to rebuild camp. What does the Advisor make of it?”

Wu Naiyu said, “Taken at face value, this suggests a siege strategy — ordering the main force back to rebuild camp properly, enclose the city but hold off from assault, pressing steadily and taking their time.”

“Building against the water is a basic tactical error — it may also be a deliberate bait to draw us into a sortie.”

He looked at Tang Pidi. “In my reading, though, Yuwen Shangyun’s play here is a bit rough around the edges. Within these next two days, almost certainly, he will assault the city.”

Luo Jing said, “So there are informants inside the city, as expected?”

Wu Naiyu nodded. “Not just informants — quite a number of them.”

Luo Jing said, “Then perhaps I didn’t kill enough people.”

Wu Naiyu said, “What General Luo killed, Yuwen Shangyun may have deliberately allowed you to kill. Some people in Anyang are purely opportunistic — when Luo Jing came, they served Luo Jing; when Yuwen Shangyun comes, they’ll serve Yuwen Shangyun. People like that are not worth lamenting.”

Luo Jing nodded. Thinking it over carefully, the ones he’d killed had indeed all been fence-sitters.

“His withdrawal to rebuild is only to mislead us.”

Wu Naiyu looked at Tang Pidi. “Following this reasoning, he and his informants inside the city must have already agreed on a time to assault.”

Tang Pidi sighed quietly.

“Whatever I do next needs to be impressive enough to wash away the stain of having run from this city.”

Luo Jing smiled. “You’re overthinking it. All the events along the way are just window dressing for the outcome. A good outcome is good window dressing — if the outcome isn’t good, what’s the point of worrying about the rest?”

Tang Pidi laughed. “Since when did you learn to talk like this?”

Luo Jing tilted his head toward the sky. “Since I’ve been stationed in Jizhou, surrounded entirely by people who do nothing but flatter and curry favor — one person in particular, surnamed Yu, going entirely too far.”

Tang Pidi burst into laughter.

He looked outward again and murmured, “We don’t know when the Chu forces will assault the city. I don’t like this feeling of having no control. It’d be better if we were the ones calling the shots.”

Luo Jing said, “You’ve just reframed running away from the city as ‘calling the shots’… I think I’ve picked up a little of your extraordinary talent for making things sound good.”

Tang Pidi smiled. “Fight when you can fight, run when you can’t — that sounds less than impressive. But say it differently: whether to fight or to withdraw, *we* decide — doesn’t that sound much better?”

Luo Jing said, “With you and Li Chi together, the Ning Army’s growth in every sense of the word is entirely logical.”

Tang Pidi said, “General Luo is largely correct.”

That same day.

Chu Army scouts reported back: at Anyang’s northern gate, several hundred Ning soldiers had fled out, running north without looking back.

Half an hour later, another scout reported: roughly a thousand more Ning soldiers had slipped out, moving light and fast, heading north.

Another hour, and scouts brought word that a number of civil official convoys had also fled northward.

In the command tent, Yuwen Shangyun paced back and forth, his expression visibly torn.

“Supreme General, if we don’t strike now, the Ning forces will all have escaped!”

“Supreme General, the reason we half-encircled Anyang was precisely to leave one gate open for the Ning forces to flee through, so we could intercept and cut them down along the way. And now they’re fleeing — Supreme General, if we don’t move, it’ll be too late!”

“Supreme General, this subordinate is willing to lead a detachment to intercept the Ning forces north of Anyang!”

Yuwen Shangyun frowned. “Have you already forgotten what I said earlier today?”

He let his gaze sweep over the assembled officers. “Tang Pidi’s methods are unpredictable and strange. Given his proud, self-assured character — do you really think he would abandon the city in retreat? Given his command over the Ning Army — do you really think he would sit back and watch his men scatter without doing anything about it?”

He made a dismissive sound. “This is nothing but a lure. His light cavalry hasn’t moved from the city — because they’re waiting for the right moment.”

The officers looked at Yuwen Shangyun, their expressions carrying a faint uncertainty, but none dared voice any doubt.

They were simply anxious. If they let the Ning forces filter out one group at a time like this, Anyang might fall within reach — but the Ning Army in the city would not be destroyed.

Yuwen Shangyun sighed. “Though I have nearly a hundred thousand troops… my cavalry numbers fewer than five thousand.”

He looked at his officers. “To split off cavalry and pursue the fleeing Ning forces, I would have to use those five thousand.”

“Consider what this means. Tang Pidi deliberately waited at the river to let our advance scouts find him — that was to determine the size of our cavalry force.”

At the same time, inside Anyang.

Tang Pidi sat in a chair, eyes half-closed, speaking as though to himself.

But what he was thinking of, in that moment, was Yuwen Shangyun’s reactions.

He spoke almost inaudibly. “If he splits off cavalry to pursue the Ning forces and drives them north toward Anyang, his cavalry will be separated from the main body — and become an isolated force.”

In the Chu Army tent, Yuwen Shangyun said, “An isolated cavalry force, against those several thousand steppe light cavalry who are exceptionally skilled in battle — archers on horseback, far beyond anything our cavalry can match.”

In the study, Tang Pidi’s fingers tapped softly at the table. “If the Ning light cavalry cut off the cavalry’s line of retreat, that cavalry force will never come back.”

Almost simultaneously, Yuwen Shangyun said, “If they’re cut off, that cavalry force will never come back.”

The assembled officers finally understood. They had not thought deeply enough.

To actually send light cavalry to intercept those fleeing thousand-odd Ning soldiers — those worthless civil officials — and in exchange lose five thousand light cavalry, would be a catastrophic trade.

Yuwen Shangyun said, “Tang Pidi has no strength for a decisive engagement with us. His only option is to chip away at our numbers.”

Inside Anyang, Tang Pidi said, “I expect he can only afford to use this to whittle down our strength. To fall for it over a thousand men — how deeply unwise.”

He rose. “Leave it. Proceed with the original plan — assault the city.”

In the Chu Army tent, Yuwen Shangyun said with firm decision, “Ignore it. Proceed with the original plan — assault the city.”

Tang Pidi looked at his personal soldiers. “Are things packed up?”

“They are, Supreme General.”

Tang Pidi said, “All the civil officials have already evacuated Anyang. Yuwen Shangyun didn’t dare pursue — thought it wasn’t worth the risk. He let our officials leave without a fight. I should thank him for that.”

He walked to the desk, picked up his brush, and wrote several lines on a sheet of paper.

*First the civil officials fled the city, then the cavalry rode home — O brilliant Supreme General, your every plan so shrewd: I offer you my congratulations on receiving Anyang.*

When he was done, Tang Pidi strode out the door. “Time for us to go as well.”

Less than an hour later, all remaining Ning soldiers in the city mounted up and rode out.

Ning light cavalry were not equipped with a single horse per man — those six thousand steppe riders were flush with mounts, each man riding three horses.

So for the ten thousand Ning soldiers holding Anyang to all ride out together posed no difficulty.

When scouts brought the news that another seven or eight thousand Ning cavalry had ridden out of the city to the north, Yuwen Shangyun stood completely stunned.

Completely and utterly stunned.

He had spent several months in Jizhou. He believed he had come to understand many of the people in the Ning Army.

Li Chi. Tang Pidi. Luo Jing. Dantai Yajing.

He had possessed the audacity to go to Jizhou specifically to know his enemy.

And yet in this moment, Tang Pidi’s withdrawal had entirely overturned everything Yuwen Shangyun thought he knew about the man.

That proud, self-assured, forceful Ning Army Supreme General — had he really run?

Yuwen Shangyun didn’t believe it. He immediately ordered the full army to advance.

The Chu forces surged toward Anyang. When they reached the city gates, they found them standing wide open.

Those who had been waiting for tonight’s third watch to open the gates were themselves dumbfounded — no one had any idea what had happened.

Anyang’s gates were open. The Chu forces entered and swept through the entire city. How could a single Ning soldier still be found?

The Ning light cavalry and their three horses apiece were well out of reach by now, far to the north.

When Yuwen Shangyun entered the study, he walked a circuit of the empty room. There was no one here — and yet he could not shake the feeling that somewhere invisible, someone was watching him and laughing.

Then he noticed the sheet of paper on the desk. He stepped forward and looked.

In an instant, a surge of heat flooded into his head.

“Insolent wretch!”

“Insufferable arrogance!”

Yuwen Shangyun snatched up the paper and tore it to pieces.

“Supreme General — do we give chase?”

His subordinate was also seething. “Right now Jizhou is thinly defended. Their main force has gone all the way to Qingzhou, with no way to return in time…”

He stopped himself mid-sentence, not daring to go on. He remembered Yuwen Shangyun’s warning against overconfidence, and feared a reprimand.

Yuwen Shangyun glanced back at him. But he didn’t rebuke him.

His eyes gleamed as his mind worked rapidly through the calculations.

“What Tang Pidi counts on is that I don’t know where his main force has gone.”

Yuwen Shangyun said, “By any normal reckoning, with sixty thousand troops, he would never have abandoned Anyang — but he did, which exposes the fact that the main force is elsewhere.”

“He doesn’t know that I know. So he’ll assume I won’t dare give chase — afraid of walking into an ambush…”

Yuwen Shangyun said, “The Ning main force has been gone half a month. A thousand miles away by now, at least. For Tang Pidi to send someone riding day and night to reach them, and for those forces to turn back and march in support — one way and one way back, the minimum is over twenty days.”

He suddenly broke into laughter. “Tang Pidi! However much you calculated, you could not have calculated that I know where the Ning forces went. He thought I wouldn’t dare pursue him. So I’ll give him exactly what he expects — and not pursue him at all!”

He swept a hand through the air. “Don’t chase Tang Pidi. We go to intercept his main force — destroy that fifty thousand Ning Army entirely, and Jizhou will have no strong enemy left.”

Yuwen Shangyun turned to face his officers. “Dispatch scouts east-southeast. Wait for Dantai Yajing’s Ning forces to return — and end this in one battle.”

“Yes!”