By this point in the battle, how both sides would fight, could fight, and had to fight was essentially all out in the open.

Each side had a clear picture of the other’s hand.

What gave Yang Xuanji the greatest headache on the Ning Army side was that cavalry — swift as the wind, appearing and vanishing without trace. What gave the Ning Army the greatest headache was Yang Xuanji’s heavy armor.

These two forces were not the sort of units naturally fated to clash in a death struggle — but once they actually collided, the carnage would be imaginable.

Sending light cavalry against heavy-armored infantry was an order only a fool would give. Sending heavy-armored infantry to chase light cavalry? Even a fool wouldn’t stoop to that.

So once everything was laid bare, it came down to how each side maneuvered and deployed their pieces.

But there was no question about it: Yang Xuanji’s enormous numerical advantage still firmly held the initiative.

What made Tang Pidi so extraordinary was that he had deliberately yielded a hundred *zhang* of ground — and in doing so, had rendered Yang Xuanji’s overwhelming numbers impossible to deploy effectively.

If the Ning Army had held the riverbank tightly and left no room at all, the Heaven’s Mandate Army’s archers could have returned fire from their ships.

By yielding that hundred *zhang*, the Heaven’s Mandate Army was forced to rush ashore. The formations they could form were severely limited.

Their vast numbers of archers, still on the warships in the river, had no angle to reach the Ning Army.

“My lord.”

Xun Youjiu looked at Yang Xuanji: “Regarding the flying stones earlier — your servant has already had word spread through the army that the Ning Army hurled those stones with a kind of lever device, but that all their lever devices have now broken down. No more stones will come. The troops’ morale can be steadied.”

It had to be an explanation that sounded plausible, while not dealing too heavy a blow to morale. Given Xun Youjiu’s knowledge, having thought of the lever device as an explanation was actually the most reasonable he could have managed.

Yang Xuanji nodded. The Ning Army side had indeed gone quiet for some time now — no more stones had come flying. Xun Youjiu’s guess was probably right.

It was the kind of thing that sounded miraculous and inexplicable at first hearing, but if you calmed down and thought it through carefully, it wasn’t so hard to understand.

He just didn’t believe it was a lever-board. A wooden plank could not fling a boulder that far. If it wasn’t some kind of supernatural art, then the Ning Army had simply deployed a more powerful weapon than anyone had seen before.

“Your servant observed carefully: when the Ning Army launched those stones, the first volley came about forty at once. Toward the end, only three or five came sporadically. Then they stopped entirely.”

Xun Youjiu said: “From this, we can infer that this kind of weapon breaks down extremely quickly. The reason it wasn’t used earlier was to wait until our ships carrying equipment were drawing close, then strike the ships and deny us access to our large weapons.”

Yang Xuanji gave another sound of agreement: “Have you thought of a way to counter the Ning Army’s cavalry? If they drive their horses into a charge against us, how do we respond?”

Xun Youjiu said: “Your servant has thought it through carefully. The Ning Army actually has no reliable countermove. Their infantry has no heavy armor — a direct collision with the Black Cord Army would be certain defeat. And if they use cavalry to exploit the terrain and strike at heavy armor, the odds are four to six against them. We hold the advantage.”

Yang Xuanji glanced at Xun Youjiu. He had given Xun Youjiu a day to devise a plan for defeating the enemy — and it seemed Xun Youjiu had not been able to come up with much more than this.

Xun Youjiu said: “Your servant proposes deploying the forces as follows.”

He rose, picked up a charcoal stick, and sketched on the ground: “Place spearmen in formation ahead of the heavy armor. Spearmen in front, the line advances; heavy armor follows behind. At this point, don’t concern ourselves with the spearmen’s casualties. Even if every spearman in front of the heavy armor falls, as long as we can push thirty to fifty *zhang* further forward, the Ning Army’s light cavalry will have already lost their function. The heavy armor, once it leaves the riverbank, advances like a mountain moving — steady and inevitable. The Ning Army must fall back.”

A flicker of hesitation crossed Yang Xuanji’s eyes. He asked: “And the spearmen’s losses, Counselor — have you calculated them?”

Xun Youjiu answered: “Approximately five thousand to ten thousand.”

Yang Xuanji asked again: “And the Ning Army?”

Xun Youjiu said: “Before the heavy armor goes up, Ning Army casualties… would be almost negligible. Without our bed crossbows ashore, we can’t suppress their arrow formations. The spearmen have very little body armor — the moment they form a line, they’re in range of the Ning Army’s arrows. So casualties will certainly be high.”

Yang Xuanji went quiet.

In the Right Command Guard’s earlier engagement, they had already lost over ten thousand men — while the Ning Army’s losses were approximately two thousand.

A five-to-one loss ratio. Fighting like this — how could it not be painful?

As if seeing through what Yang Xuanji was thinking, Xun Youjiu said: “The Ning Army holds the terrain advantage, their formations are intact, and they are defending against our attack. A loss ratio like this is actually still within reason.”

Yang Xuanji let out a long, deep breath, telling himself that if this battle could be won, a five-to-one ratio was something he would simply have to accept.

Once the riverbank battle was taken, the Ning Army would have no natural defenses behind them. Tang Pidi would have to fall back, and after that, all he could rely on were a few small towns. Even without large siege equipment, taking those small towns would not be too difficult.

Yuzhou was ten thousand li of flat plain — especially in the south of Yuzhou, which had almost no mountains or elevated terrain to speak of.

For the Ning Army, with their numerical inferiority and no strongholds to anchor them, fighting on open plains against a Heaven’s Mandate Army ten times their size was an impossible battle to win.

So no matter how great the losses at the riverbank, they simply had to be borne.

“Then we go with your arrangement.”

Yang Xuanji looked at Xun Youjiu: “However — is it possible to mix shieldmen in with the spearmen in a combined front line to reduce casualties? That should still be sufficient to block the Ning Army cavalry’s push.”

This battle was about force — the Ning Army’s goal was not for light cavalry to cut down heavy armor in combat, but to push against it. Warhorses driving forward, forcing the heavy armor back into the river. Heavy armor soldiers who fell into the water couldn’t be saved.

Tang Pidi had done the math: trading warhorses for heavy armor, he came out ahead.

The cost of equipping and building a force of heavy-armored infantry — in money, materials, and manpower — far exceeded that of building a force of light cavalry.

Xun Youjiu thought it over. The terrain was already narrow — only a few dozen *zhang* wide. A front line of spearmen five rows deep was already the absolute limit of what could be formed. Interspersing shieldmen would significantly reduce the effectiveness of blocking the light cavalry.

But he could not push back further. He only nodded: “Your servant will arrange it as my lord instructs.”

Yang Xuanji gave a sound of assent, and looked up at the sky.

Xun Youjiu had not made him wait a full day, because Xun Youjiu understood clearly that the Heaven’s Mandate Army could not afford to wait.

Right now they were stretched in formation along the river, with follow-up forces unable to advance. Once nightfall came — who knew whether Tang Pidi might launch a fierce attack under cover of darkness? In the night, with soldiers inevitably thrown into confusion and morale uncertain, this battle would be lost.

So any fight that could be settled in daylight had to be settled in daylight.

—

On the Ning Army side.

On the high ground, Tang Pidi ate a few bites of dry rations, then raised his spyglass again and studied the Heaven’s Mandate Army’s movements.

He watched the Heaven’s Mandate Army’s troop deployments — all of it exactly as he had expected.

This kind of battle: both sides knew each other’s cards. It all came down to the skill of the players.

“Where is Zhuo Qinglin? Call him over here.”

Tang Pidi issued the command.

Not long after, Zhuo Qinglin, who was overseeing the catapults, came jogging over and bowed: “Grand General.”

Tang Pidi asked: “How many catapults are still operational?”

Zhuo Qinglin replied: “Following the Grand General’s orders, we gradually reduced the number of stones launched with each volley to make the enemy believe our weapons had broken down — but in reality, we still have twenty-one catapults that can function.”

Tang Pidi gave a quiet sound of acknowledgment.

Twenty-one. That was indeed not many. Against the number of heavy armor soldiers the enemy had, the damage that could be inflicted was actually quite limited.

And with stones of at least a hundred *jin* being required for each shot, how many times the remaining catapults could fire before breaking was anyone’s guess.

Twenty-one catapults, averaging five shots each at best — that was just over a hundred shots in total.

On average, how many men could one stone kill? At most, on the soft, riverbank terrain where stones could not roll and carry on, you might hope to kill three or four men per strike.

That added up to killing a few hundred men — utterly insignificant.

The only way to increase the number of shots the catapults could fire was to reduce the weight of what they launched.

Tang Pidi mentally tallied the reserve of fire oil in camp. That substance was extremely scarce and not sufficient to create a sea of fire capable of dealing a killing blow to heavy armor.

He looked up at the sky, then slowly let out a breath.

A moment later, he rose: “Send word to Generals Zhuang Wudi and Cheng Wujie: the victory or defeat of this battle depends entirely on the two of them.”

—

At the same time, southeast of Jingzhou.

Prince Wu Yang Jiju was conducting a front-line inspection, raising his spyglass to observe the camp of Li Xionghu’s army across the way.

It was visibly emptier than before. From what he could judge, Li Xionghu had clearly sent the great bulk of his forces out to bring in the summer harvest.

If he were to launch a fierce assault right now, he might be able to put Li Xionghu’s camp to the torch — but in truth, the effect would be limited.

“The task I assigned you — is it all done?”

Prince Wu turned and asked.

The generals beneath him bowed as one: “It is all done.”

Over six or seven days, the soldiers of the Left Valiant Guard had used straw to fashion a large number of scarecrows, and dressed them in military uniforms.

“Then go and set them out.”

Prince Wu felt a heaviness in his heart, and a deep oppression — but he had no other move to make.

In three days at most — no more than three — the army’s grain would be exhausted. The soldiers would be fighting Li Xionghu’s million-strong army on empty stomachs.

The Left Valiant Guard would not be beaten on a fair battlefield by any enemy — but it would be beaten by hunger.

“This time, returning to Jingzhou — whatever punishment His Majesty sees fit to impose, none of it falls on you. It is all my doing, mine alone.”

Prince Wu said: “The army withdraws in alternating covering formations, straight back to Daxing. Each unit’s general oversees his own men’s withdrawal — you don’t all have to move together.”

General Du Gaomeng lowered his voice: “But Grand General — our food supplies truly are not enough to sustain the soldiers on the march back. There are only about three days of rations left.”

Prince Wu was silent for a moment. The sorrow on his face deepened.

“Before, I had you prepare a large number of Li Xionghu’s rebel banners — are they all ready?”

Du Gaomeng bowed: “They are all ready.”

Prince Wu let out a long, heavy breath, and spoke through nearly clenched teeth: “On the march back — fly Li Xionghu’s banners. Wherever we pass… take… take whatever grain and provisions can be taken.”

The color in Du Gaomeng’s face changed sharply.

The Left Valiant Guard was the imperial court’s own府兵. The Left Valiant Guard was the last pillar Dachu still stood on. They were the last remnant of Dachu’s dignity.

And now, on the march home, they would sustain themselves by plundering the people?

Du Gaomeng kept his voice very low: “Your Highness — if this gets out, the name of the Left Valiant Guard, Your Highness’s own reputation…”

Prince Wu turned his head, frowning: “I already said — whatever His Majesty chooses to punish, all of it falls on me alone. It has nothing to do with any of you.”

The generals all dropped to one knee: “Your Highness, please reconsider!”

Prince Wu said: “My mind is made up. There is nothing more to say. I have wronged the people along this road — but if we do not do this, the Left Valiant Guard will perish. And if the Left Valiant Guard perishes, Dachu will perish.”

He looked up at the sky: “Whatever punishment comes — let it all come to me.”

He raised his hand: “Go!”

“Yes!”

The generals answered as one — but every face was a picture of misery.

They dared not say it openly. They could not truly refuse. Because without doing this, they would all starve.

But now — what difference was there between the proud Left Valiant Guard and those rebel armies?

Prince Wu stood still for a long moment, then closed his eyes: “Try… to avoid killing the people.”

“Yes!”

The generals answered again. Every heart sank with the weight of it.