“We may have been played by that tactically gifted commander.”
Chunbian Chili’s brow was deeply furrowed, and his complexion was poor — after days without proper rest, topped off with the fury that had been building, it would be strange if he looked anything but haggard.
The people inside Liaocheng had, through methods that seemed bizarre beyond belief, already disrupted the Sang assault plans for several days running.
And not only that — the Sang forces positioned at all four compass points had been left in a state of terrible exhaustion, unable to sleep at night, and too unsettled to rest peacefully by day.
Four straight days of sleeplessness, on top of the unrelenting assaults before — how intense must their suffering have been by now?
“He was trying to grind down our spirit — to leave us too depleted to press the assault on Liaocheng. There never was any fracturing among their ranks.”
Chunbian Chili said: “The man commanding inside that city is truly insufferable.”
Aluokedi Wulianliang — the prince of the Black Martial Empire — had been sitting to the side listening throughout. The more he heard from the Sang commanders, the more irritated he grew.
These Sang people — adept at preparation, adept at learning from their mistakes — these were genuinely good martial habits. So why did they keep losing?
It was telling, in fact: the Central Plains man commanding inside that city was operating on an entirely different level from these Sang commanders.
He had gauged the Sang troop strength accurately and determined they lacked the numbers for a four-sided siege — only enough to block three gates and assault the fourth.
Once they revealed their troop disposition, every weakness was laid bare for the enemy to read clearly.
He had used these tactics to exhaust the Sang forces to the point of being too depleted to continue fighting — while the defenders inside could rotate and rest.
Which meant one could deduce this: these people were buying time. They were waiting for reinforcements.
“The error was ours from the very beginning.”
Aluokedi Wulianliang said: “Your scouts were not discovered by ordinary civilians — they were discovered by Ning soldiers.”
That single statement left Chunbian Chili and the others momentarily stunned.
Duye Zheng said: “But Your Highness — the first group of scouts we sent reported that there were no regular military forces in the city, and certainly no Ning soldiers. And despite the continuous assault over these many days, no Ning soldiers have been spotted on the city walls.”
They had not spotted them because Tang Qingyuan and his two companions had, in order to conceal their identities, pulled ordinary civilian clothing over their leather armor. Their military uniforms were too distinctive — once the Sang identified them, they would immediately know who was commanding the defense, and the Sang would stop at nothing to kill the three of them. Without military command, the ordinary civilians would never be able to hold back the Sang army.
So to this day, the Sang did not know there were three Ning soldiers on the city walls.
Aluokedi Wulianliang said: “You should understand clearly — someone capable of commanding a group of ordinary people to this level cannot possibly be a man without military experience. I know some people study military texts — but someone who has never seen a battlefield, never fought in a war, cannot possibly wield command this masterfully.”
Chunbian Chili nodded. Their assumption from the beginning had been this: though there were no regular troops inside the city, someone had studied the art of war. Perhaps a retired soldier who had settled there, or possibly a former Chu general living in seclusion. But they had never once considered the possibility of Ning soldiers being present.
“Tactics like these are clearly designed to stall for time — meaning Ning reinforcements will be arriving before long.”
Aluokedi Wulianliang continued: “And they are not merely trying to hold Liaocheng — they are trying to destroy your entire army.”
At these words, every Sang commander fell silent.
This was something none of them had considered. If their scouts had been captured by Ning soldiers, then their troop strength and their plans may well have been known to the enemy in full from the very start.
“Your Highness — what should we do now?”
Chunbian Chili asked, his manner deferential.
Aluokedi Wulianliang said: “Pay no more attention to those people coming out of the city — they are bait. The thought of you being led around by the nose must have them absolutely delighted.”
He paced back and forth inside the tent, thinking. If there truly was a skilled Ning military commander inside that city, this matter had grown considerably more complicated.
Four straight nights, sending men out through the northern and eastern gates to draw Sang attention — yet never through the western gate.
This was a kind of psychological calculation: the commander had anticipated that the Sang would focus their suspicion on the western gate.
This man wasn’t only thinking about what his own side should do — he was thinking even more about what the Sang would do.
This was a true military genius. A remarkable commander.
And supremely confident.
“For the first four nights, they only went in and out through the north and east gates — as if mocking you.”
Aluokedi Wulianliang said: “So use his method to send that mockery back… Tonight, move the bulk of your eastern and western forces to the north. Leave only a small portion behind to make the camps look unchanged.”
He looked toward Chunbian Chili and said: “And you — in the darkness of night, move quietly to the northern gate to take personal command. Remove your battle armor and have someone else wear it, so those inside the city believe you are still at the south gate.”
Chunbian Chili understood immediately.
“Your Highness’s brilliance!”
Chunbian Chili exclaimed admiringly: “This is exactly what the Central Plains people always say… repay a man in his own coin.”
Duye Zheng also offered praise: “We were caught off guard because we didn’t expect the city’s people to come running out. And now those inside cannot expect us to pull our eastern and western troops away. Your Highness’s planning is truly sublime beyond compare.”
These past days, Aluokedi Wulianliang had thoroughly tired of listening to Sang flattery. It could be said that the Sang were perhaps the most skilled practitioners of fawning in the entire world — but hear too much of it, and it grew stale, the way even the finest feast palls when you eat nothing else every day.
To put it another way: dogs love to eat filth, but even a dog eating nothing but filth meal after meal cannot be happy about it.
“Tonight, have your men continue the feint assault on the southern gate — while you personally lead the main force in a sudden, all-out assault on the northern gate. Our greatest advantage is not troop strength, and not fighting ability — it is that in the darkness of night, they cannot see our troop movements.”
Aluokedi Wulianliang said: “They have been using the cover of night — and we can use it too. If we use it well, perhaps we can take Liaocheng in one decisive push. If we still cannot take it, then there is nothing left to do but withdraw.”
The Sang naval forces had suffered devastating losses. The eighty thousand strong army that had set out on campaign — now barely thirty thousand remained. To hope to accomplish anything significant within this vast and boundless Central Plains was pure fantasy.
Thinking of this made him furious. Back in the Bohai Kingdom, that Duye Zheng had sworn up and down that the Sang had one hundred and eighty thousand troops.
Lying was one thing. Lying and then doubling down with embellishments — that was going rather too far.
Chunbian Chili naturally knew of Aluokedi Wulianliang’s displeasure on the matter. In the Prince’s presence, he never dared so much as breathe a word about their troop count — not a single character.
So he dared say nothing now either, only continued heaping on praise — lavish, extravagant compliments, one after another soaring skyward.
That night, Chunbian Chili rode north to a position outside the northern wall of Liaocheng. By then, the troops from both the eastern and western camps had been almost entirely redeployed there.
Those three camps had each held about five thousand men. Now the eastern and western flanks were left with five hundred each, and the rest had all assembled here.
He and Duye Zheng had agreed: the assault would begin after the first watch of midnight. Duye Zheng, dressed in his armor, would have soldiers carrying torches — visible enough for those inside the city to clearly make out.
The moment Duye Zheng’s side launched the attack, the northern gate would be hit with an immediate all-out assault. The defenders had grown accustomed to fighting at the southern gate — the northern gate would surely be far less heavily defended.
Honestly, it was quite a good plan. Aluokedi Wulianliang had realized that the Central Plains commander thought carefully about what his enemy would do — so he, in turn, was thinking about what that commander would do.
He had even come to suspect that the man’s continuous use of the north and east gates, never the west, was twofold: one, to mock the Sang’s disposition; two, to lull them into complacency.
He suspected those people genuinely intended to break out — and that they would go through the western gate.
But Aluokedi Wulianliang had not warned Chunbian Chili about this, because he felt the possibility, while real, was remote.
Once those people left the city, how could they possibly be a match for Sang forces on open terrain?
Aluokedi Wulianliang had another thought, too — if those Central Plains people truly intended to run, then simply let them.
This battle had been too painful, too grinding. The Sang needed to keep enough troops to hold Liaocheng. Out on open ground, while the Sang would prevail, engaging tens of thousands of breakout fighters would still cost them casualties.
If Ning reinforcements were truly already on the road, and their remaining troop strength became critically low, then capturing this city only to be unable to hold it would render the entire campaign meaningless.
So he had grown somewhat resigned: if those inside truly wanted to escape from the western gate, let them.
At the appointed hour after midnight, Duye Zheng ordered his troops to assemble and prepare to make a show of force to draw the defenders’ attention.
Just as the troops were forming up, a sudden blaze of firelight erupted from the direction of the western gate!
In the instant that fire appeared, Aluokedi Wulianliang felt a strange sense of release — his chest eased, and he let out a long, silent breath.
The people inside had indeed been planning a breakout. Everything before had been misdirection. They had no reinforcements.
“Your Highness — what now?”
Duye Zheng asked urgently.
Aluokedi Wulianliang ordered: “Take your forces to the western gate. Remember — do not engage. Only pursue. Let those people escape. Press them into running faster. Our only objective is the capture of Liaocheng.”
Duye Zheng acknowledged the order immediately and led his troops toward the western gate.
The fire rising outside the western gate had indeed been lit by Tang Qingyuan himself, leading a breakout.
From the city’s population he had carefully selected eight hundred bold and courageous fighters — men and women with some martial skill. The bodyguards and house guards of wealthy households, the muscle of trading companies, the rough characters from the back alleys — people Tang Qingyuan hadn’t dared entrust with responsibility before, but who could be trusted tonight.
Because after days of continuous fighting, the bloodied spirit had been awakened. The people of the city were now bound together as one.
He personally led these eight hundred people out through the western gate, charging straight into the Sang encampment, fighting and setting fires as they went.
“Move fast!”
Tang Qingyuan shouted loudly: “Once the fire’s going, pull back. Don’t get drawn into prolonged fighting!”
These eight hundred — rough and fierce by nature — were no strangers to bloodshed and arson.
They set the Sang camp ablaze, and Tang Qingyuan immediately led his force in retreat, heading back to the city. He ran at the front: “Fast! We have to be fast!”
His people followed him back into the city, and the gate was sealed firmly shut.
Tang Qingyuan led the group back around to the south gate at a full run. Du Guang and Wang Senmao had already assembled the able-bodied men and were waiting — roughly two thousand or more in total.
“Open the gate. Charge out!”
At Tang Qingyuan’s command, the southern gate swung open. That force of not quite three thousand men charged straight out through the southern gate.
They drove directly toward the Sang main camp. In the darkness of that night, they used against the enemy every condition the night had to offer.
Those men — those warriors — surged into the barely-garrisoned Sang headquarters. They fought through it, and then put it to the torch.
The flames leaping skyward were the unyielding spirit of Liaocheng’s people made visible.
—