October. Deep autumn.

At Fishermen’s Pass, Li Chi received urgent military reports sent simultaneously from Yanzhou and Jizhou — both delivered at maximum speed.

In Yanzhou, a combined army of Bohai and Sang forces had launched a massive assault, while outside the northern border’s Beishan Pass, the Black Wu forces were engaged in frequent troop movements.

It was clear that this was an invasion of enormous scale, spearheaded by the Black Wu — and this time, they were determined to succeed.

“I have to go back.”

Li Chi looked toward Xiahou Zuo.

Xiahou Zuo said, “But we are now at the most critical moment. Barring any unexpected developments, the decisive battle between Prince Wu Yang Jiju and Yang Xuanji is about to begin. They will fight over the autumn grain harvest, so conflict is inevitable — and when one side emerges victorious, that is precisely when we should seize Jingzhou. If you leave now, all of our planning and preparations will come to nothing.”

Li Chi made a sound of acknowledgment. “Yet I must go back.”

Xiahou Zuo gave a soft sigh. “I know. I simply had to say it.”

Li Chi turned to Yu Jiuling. “Send word to the Grand General. Tell him to take Suzhou as quickly as possible, then consolidate the army into a defensive formation. I am returning to Jizhou — and I will also be pulling Shen Shanhu’s hundred-thousand-strong force away.”

Xiahou Zuo sighed. “With this, Yangzhou — practically within our grasp — will have to be abandoned. Even Suzhou, more than half of which we have just taken, will have to be given up.”

“I know,” said Li Chi.

He turned to Gao Xining. “Go back and make preparations. The Tingwei Army’s Black Cavalry will ride north with us. Tell Master Yan to do everything in his power to draw out at least another twenty thousand troops from Yuzhou.”

Gao Xining acknowledged the order. “I’ll head back right now.”

Li Chi then looked to Xie Xiu. “Pull fifty thousand men from your forces and give Xiahou enough to make up a total of a hundred thousand. Have food and supplies readied, and set out at once.”

Xie Xiu bowed. “Your subordinate obeys.”

He turned and strode away quickly, his heart shaken beyond words.

The Black Wu were raiding the borders. The Bohai–Sang alliance had arrived. And yet, in the midst of such a favorable situation, Prince Ning was choosing to return to Jizhou to defend the frontier…

As he walked, Xie Xiu’s mind turned the question over and over: if this had been Yang Xuanji’s decision to make, would he have abandoned the Central Plains — practically his for the taking?

Right now, with just one or two more months of perseverance, the Ning Army could surely seize the opportunity while Yang Xuanji and Prince Wu bled each other out — striking into Jingzhou, and perhaps even taking Daxing in a single stroke.

Such a golden opportunity — and Prince Ning cast it aside without a second thought?

After Xie Xiu departed, Xiahou Zuo looked at Li Chi and said, “We have only just gained Jingzhou. The moment we leave, the situation there will spiral beyond control.”

Li Chi understood what Xiahou Zuo was worried about. The people of Jingzhou felt little loyalty to him. Whether it was the great noble families or the common folk, they had come to accept Yang Xuanji earlier and still harbored, to varying degrees, a resistance toward Prince Ning.

With the main army withdrawing north, leaving Xie Huainan and Xie Xiu to oversee the military and civil affairs of Jingzhou would essentially be handing the Xie family a magnificent gift.

Xie Huainan could easily declare his own independence. With Xie Xiu’s Jingzhou Army as his foundation, he could expand his forces and rise to prominence while both Prince Wu and Yang Xuanji had no time to concern themselves with Jingzhou.

“I have no time to worry about all of that.”

Li Chi mounted his horse. “Return to the main camp. Deploy diversionary forces to keep the Dachu troops inside Fishermen’s Pass too afraid to give chase. The army must begin the march north within three days.”

Xiahou Zuo clasped his fists. “Understood!”

Withdrawing a hundred thousand troops from Jingzhou, and drawing out another twenty thousand from the already severely undermanned Yuzhou — if Li Chi staked everything on the northern frontier this time, he might truly lose the best opportunity to contend for the Central Plains.

But Li Chi would never regret this decision.

“Send word to Yang Dingfang. His forces have only made it halfway — tell him to turn back immediately and march his army to Jizhou.”

Li Chi shouted to Yu Jiuling as he rode forward at full gallop. Yu Jiuling immediately dispatched messengers to carry the order.

“Send word to Master Lian Xiwu. Halt all construction in Chang’an and redirect all gathered grain and provisions to the northern frontier.”

“Yes!”

“Send someone to see Xu Ji. Tell him I am on my way back. Before I arrive, he is to move every new recruit trained in Jizhou to Dragon’s Head Pass — and lead them there himself. There is no need to wait for me in Jizhou City.”

“Yes!”

“Notify Master Wu. Have him gather all surrendered soldiers from every force across Qingzhou — however many there are — and await Shen Shanhu’s northward march, then hand all those troops over to her.”

“Yes!”

Li Chi looked at Xiahou Zuo. “We may yield Jingzhou, we may yield Suzhou, we may even yield Qingzhou — but Yuzhou must not be surrendered. You stay behind.”

Xiahou Zuo shook his head. “No one knows the northern frontier better than I do. No one knows the Black Wu better than I do. What use would I be staying in Yuzhou?”

Li Chi pondered for a moment, then nodded. “Send word to the Grand General: after the battle in Suzhou concludes, have Zhuang Wudi lead his own troops back to garrison Yuzhou City.”

All along the way, Li Chi continued issuing orders. The campaign he had launched southward to contest Jingzhou was, in an instant, transformed.

Li Chi understood the Black Wu’s thinking perfectly. If they did not strike hard now, the Central Plains would reunify, and they would lose any future chance to push southward.

Having learned from their previous defeat, the Black Wu had this time devised a plan involving the Bohai and Sang forces. The most ruthless element was the Sang naval fleet.

The Sang navy possessed the capacity to transport large armies across the sea, which meant the border passes of Yanzhou had largely lost their strategic purpose.

The Sang fleet could land at any point along the coast — raiding the interior of Yanzhou, or directly marching to reinforce the Bohai forces. They could also land along the Jizhou coastline, bypassing Dragon’s Head Pass to wreak havoc inside Jizhou.

Of course, Li Chi judged that even with sufficient military strength and an abundance of warships, the Sang forces would not dare to land in Jizhou recklessly.

Without the Bohai forces as a coordinating element, the Sang attacking Jizhou directly would be tantamount to suicide.

So Li Chi’s reasoning was this: the Sang and Bohai forces would strike Yanzhou’s border passes with a coordinated inside-outside assault, take Yanzhou in the shortest possible time, and then the Bohai army would hammer Dragon’s Head Pass by land while the Sang forces sailed around by sea — hitting it with another inside-outside attack. Once Dragon’s Head Pass fell, the Sang and Bohai armies would push north to link up with the Black Wu main force for an assault through the passes — again, a coordinated inside-outside strike.

This was the matchless advantage of commanding a vast naval fleet. The Sang forces could be deployed freely, appearing at any point of vulnerability.

One inside-outside assault at the Yanzhou border passes. A second at Dragon’s Head Pass. A third at the northern frontier. Three such coordinated strikes, and the entire northern border of the Central Plains would fall into Black Wu hands.

Of course, Li Chi had every legitimate reason not to return. Before the Black Wu could take all of Jizhou, he was confident he could seize Daxing.

But what situation would that leave behind?

Quite possibly, the Black Wu would obtain the entire northern territory — all of the Central Plains north of the Nanping River falling to them.

Dachu’s Emperor Yang Jing was already hoping to divide the realm with Li Chi along the river as a boundary, and Li Chi had refused even that. How could he possibly accept dividing it with the Black Wu?

Every inch of the Central Plains belonged to its people. It could not be surrendered.

There had been no shortage of voices urging him to first destroy the enemy at hand, and then return to relieve Jizhou — an approach that might still be feasible in time.

Li Chi’s answer was: I will not gamble the fate of the Central Plains for the throne.

Even if there truly were time, Li Chi would not wait. Every additional day of waiting meant countless soldiers on the frontier might fall; every additional day meant the people of Jizhou might suffer catastrophic devastation.

By November, Li Chi had already made his way back to Yuzhou from Jingzhou. Master Yan had exhausted every resource and managed to pull out thirty thousand men, who had been waiting for some time.

Li Chi did not pause for even a moment. He took this force and continued the rapid march toward Jizhou.

November. Daisheng Pass.

The Sang forces had withdrawn over a month ago, yet the border troops here dared not relax their vigilance even for a single instant.

The Sang army had hammered this small pass city for months, suffering enormous casualties, yet had never managed to advance a single step.

At the most critical moments, reinforcements arriving from all directions had made this pass city impregnable.

This place had once held a garrison — at its strongest, eight thousand six hundred Dachu府兵府兵府兵 regular soldiers府兵. But because the court had long since abandoned them, going years without supplies or pay, the unit had gradually dissolved. Some had become farmers, some had gone into trade, and others had become hired guards for wealthy households.

Yet the moment the smoke signal rose above Daisheng Pass, every one of those old soldiers came back.

Not just them — from every county seat, it was the county magistrates themselves who led the militia and volunteers to come to their aid; even the constables from the county offices came.

By the time the battle had lasted over a month, what had started as only three or four thousand defenders at Daisheng Pass had swelled to over forty thousand.

Yanzhou was a land of fierce and proud men — men of the rivers and lakes, wandering heroes from the green forests, were still arriving one after another.

“General!”

Ding Feng came hurrying in from outside, handing Guan Chongsheng an urgent dispatch. “This is an emergency report from Tuoshan County.”

The Sang forces’ prolonged failure to take Daisheng Pass had enraged the Black Wu Prince Kuokedi Wulianliang, who tore into Sang General Chunbian Chili with a torrent of abuse.

Chunbian Chili was furious as well. Eight ten-thousand-strong forces hammering a single small border pass — and it had gone on this long. He couldn’t even argue back when Wulianliang called him incompetent.

With no alternative, Chunbian Chili changed his strategy.

The Sang naval fleet departed from Daisheng Pass and sailed northeast along the coast, ultimately settling on a new angle of attack: Tuoshan County.

Tuoshan County had no border pass. Although the coastline there was unsuitable for large ships to approach, smaller vessels could ferry troops ashore — it would be more troublesome, but manageable.

Once they captured Tuoshan County, which sat astride a key transportation route, the Sang forces could push their way east toward the frontier passes and link up with Shi Zaoxun’s Bohai army to open the gates.

But even Tuoshan County had refused to yield to Chunbian Chili without a fight.

County Magistrate Du Dashan had led all the county’s inhabitants in a desperate stand at the mountain gorge, and the Sang forces had already been held up there for more than ten days.

Yet Tuoshan County was simply too small. Even with every civilian fighting, those lacking weapons and armor could not hold out indefinitely.

“I’ll go myself.”

Guan Chongsheng looked at his deputy general Li Jingming. “You take twenty thousand men and hold Daisheng Pass. Remember one thing: no matter the circumstances, do not leave the city to give battle.”

Li Jingming said, “General, let me go to reinforce Tuoshan County instead. You stay.”

Guan Chongsheng said, “You will follow orders.”

“Yes!”

Li Jingming immediately acknowledged.

Guan Chongsheng turned and called out, “Ding Feng!”

Ding Feng immediately ran over. After many days of fierce fighting, the once-crisp new recruit uniform he had worn was filthy beyond recognition — the collar so black it had taken on a greasy sheen.

Months had passed. When had there been any time to bathe? The rare moments of rest were seized for sleep, gathering strength for the next engagement.

In just a few months, Ding Feng had lost perhaps thirty pounds. The soft, well-fed flesh built up over years of comfortable living had vanished, replaced by the lean, hard-muscled frame he had once had.

“Go change your clothes.”

Guan Chongsheng glanced at Ding Feng.

Ding Feng looked down at himself — the clothes were indeed appalling — but this was no time to change, and he immediately said, “General, let’s head to Tuoshan County first. I’ll skip the change.”

Guan Chongsheng strode forward. “You have a quarter of an hour. Get into your captain’s battle uniform, then come collect my personal guard.”

Ding Feng’s eyes flew wide open. Then he let out a jubilant shout: “Yes!”

This force, assembled from men of every walk of life, made ready in the shortest possible time and set out marching toward Tuoshan County.

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