Over a dozen cavalrymen in brown armor galloped toward Iron Alligator Ridge. They were troops led by Zhao Wuji who had departed directly from Xiangcheng last night, penetrating northward to scout enemy movements.

“Besides over two hundred Liang troops already garrisoned at Neixiang City, there are two more Liang forces, each about five hundred strong, currently advancing toward Neixiang City. Both are less than thirty li away,” Zhao Wuji reported after dismounting, relaying intelligence from the Neixiang direction. He then removed the leather flask from his waist and gulped down water to quench the thirst from his long ride.

Their penetration into Liang-controlled territory last night had been extremely perilous.

Two soldiers behind Zhao Wuji had their shoulders and armpits pierced by iron arrows, their faces deathly pale. They could only cut off the arrow shafts en route and would have to wait until reaching camp to extract the arrowheads, stop the bleeding, and treat their wounds.

Han Qian personally went over to examine the two wounded soldiers. Seeing their wounds were serious, he instructed the medical officer to set aside the alcohol and instead use diluted saltwater made from refined salt to clean the wounds, then bandage them with boiled gauze to prevent the wounds from festering.

The army had golden wound medicine to stop bleeding and dissipate bruising, but it used precious medicinal materials that couldn’t be widely distributed—only military officers and commanders could use it.

Treatment of ordinary soldiers’ wounds was quite crude, even crude enough to directly use wood ash to stop bleeding. This caused many battles in the current age to fail or retreat primarily due to uncontrolled injuries, disease, and epidemics rather than direct casualties.

Han Qian knew that both alcohol and diluted saltwater could be used to clean wounds, and he knew the importance of soldiers maintaining personal hygiene. However, the Left Office found it difficult to mass-produce high-purity alcohol, highly refined salt, and soap obtained by solidifying fats with saltwater, so these methods could only be promoted within the Left Office for now.

With the Liang army advancing in force toward Neixiang City, Li Zhigao’s idea of recapturing Neixiang City while waiting for Gao Chengyuan’s reinforcements had already fallen through.

“It appears the Military Inspector can only use this ruined stronghold to resist the Liang army’s offensive…”

Han Qian pointed to a ruined stronghold on the terrain map located at the northern foot of Iron Alligator Ridge, four li from the river beach, and said to Li Zhigao.

This ruined stronghold wasn’t large—before being abandoned it was a village. However, its terrain not only backed against Iron Alligator Ridge, but to the north there was also a river originating from Funiu Mountain, circling around the western side of Neixiang City before flowing into the Dan River.

Embraced by mountains and water, after slightly refurbishing the ruined stronghold, only the eastern approach would allow the Liang army to deploy forces for attack. They could use war boats to reinforce the ruined stronghold without worrying about their rear route being cut off by the Liang army.

“Deng Tai, immediately take my commander’s seal to Jingzikou and order Zhou Tong and Hao Zixia to lead their troops to Iron Alligator Ridge to rendezvous with me upon receiving the order,” Li Zhigao called over a personal guard commander. After issuing the military order based on field signatures, he also handed over the command token hanging at his waist, ordering him to rush back to Jingzikou immediately.

“General Gao will be leading his troops over. Perhaps Iron Alligator Ridge should be handed to them to defend,” the personal guard commander Deng Tai glanced at Han Qian and hesitantly suggested to Li Zhigao.

“After fattening up for several years, in this battle who can fight and who can’t—are your dog eyes so blind you still can’t see clearly?” Li Zhigao had no patience at this moment. He berated him sharply and urged Deng Tai to quickly take men back to Jingzikou to transmit the order.

Han Qian nodded slightly. He had previously worried that Li Zhigao wouldn’t be willing to use his own core troops to fight a hard battle. But if Li Zhigao didn’t shoulder the responsibility of defending Iron Alligator Ridge and instead pushed it to Gao Chengyuan, the problem would be quite serious.

It wasn’t that Gao Chengyuan—personally assigned by Emperor Tianyou to serve beside the Third Prince—didn’t dare fight hard battles. Rather, the combat power gap between the First Regiment led by Li Zhigao and the Fourth Regiment led by Gao Chengyuan was enormous.

Of the Dragon Sparrow Army’s five regiments, the First Regiment’s Military Inspector was Li Zhigao, the adopted son of Xinchang Marquis Li Pu. The Second Regiment was led by Zhou Shu, one of Xinchang Marquis Li Pu’s household soldier commanders. The Third Regiment’s Military Inspector was Li Mingsheng, a clan nephew of Xinchang Marquis Li Pu. These three were all originally direct lineage of the Xinchang Marquis Estate and Wanhong Tower.

Since establishing the Dragon Sparrow Army, whether in soldier selection or material supply, the First, Second, and Third Regiments had always been prioritized over the Fourth and Fifth Regiments led by Gao Chengyuan and Guo Liang.

Among them, the First Regiment led by Li Zhigao had the strongest combat power. Its troop numbers were always at full strength, not to mention that after the military remonstrance, the most elite Guard Battalion was dispersed and incorporated into the First Regiment, which even possessed seven hundred war horses.

From Wuguan into Jingzikou, the road was narrow and steep. The three fortifications hastily repaired at Jingzikou were relatively solid. Even if the Liang army attacked forcefully from Wuguan, the pressure would be relatively lighter. However, from Iron Alligator Ridge north to Neixiang City, the hilly terrain was much gentler. The Chu army could only rely on a ruined stronghold with thin walls and large collapsed sections. Merely defending the stronghold would be extremely difficult—they might even need to take initiative, striking the Liang army in relatively narrow and treacherous places to prevent the Liang army from coveting the Dan River. This would be far more arduous.

\*\*\*

The Liang army’s speed in assembling forces at Neixiang City was very fast. By nightfall, cavalry and infantry gathered near Neixiang City already exceeded three thousand. Scouts also detected Liang forces assembling from the Xinye and Wancheng directions, though it was still difficult to determine the final scale of Liang troops that would assemble at Neixiang.

At this time, the five hundred civilian laborers Han Qian had transferred from Canglang City also hurriedly came ashore, rushing to fell trees, build palisade walls, and block gaps in the ruined stronghold.

Gao Chengyuan led over a hundred guards and arrived at Iron Alligator Ridge somewhat later. The main force of fifteen hundred soldiers from the Fourth Regiment traveled by boat—at the earliest, they might reach Iron Alligator Ridge by this time tomorrow.

“If the Neixiang Liang forces attack Iron Alligator Ridge forcefully, the Wuguan Liang forces cannot possibly remain inactive.”

The round moon illuminated the sky. Teams of Liang cavalry and infantry dispersed, closing in on Iron Alligator Ridge. Li Zhigao stood with an iron-blue face on high ground north of the ruined stronghold, watching all this. He said to Gao Chengyuan, who had hastily dismounted to meet him:

“I temporarily cannot return to Jingzikou. I can only ask General Gao to go to Jingzikou and take charge of defensive matters there.”

Li Zhigao was transferring another thousand elite troops here. Left at Jingzikou would be two battalions plus one battalion of Xiangzhou army elite led by Zhang Bao. This should be enough to defend Jingzikou. After all, the Liang forces at Wuguan weren’t particularly numerous. However, he worried that without him personally stationed at Jingzikou, Zhang Bao—as Du Chongtao’s direct subordinate—might not follow his arrangements to firmly hold the fortifications without retreating. That’s why he asked Gao Chengyuan to urgently go station at Jingzikou.

Gao Chengyuan was one of Emperor Tianyou’s people. If Zhang Bao dared disobey orders or make unusual movements, Gao Chengyuan could execute him without Du Chongtao having anything to say.

Li Zhigao was actually proposing to swap defensive positions with Gao Chengyuan—letting Gao Chengyuan lead his troops to defend Jingzikou while he transferred out the First Regiment elite to fight this potentially bloody defensive battle on the eastern bank of the Dan River.

The Liang army had campaigned ceaselessly north and south these years, making their combat power quite formidable. Gao Chengyuan didn’t act tough. He temporarily left nearly a hundred guards at Iron Alligator Ridge and took only a dozen men on horseback along the remnant road to rush to Jingzikou to take command.

Gao Chengyuan temporarily left most of his guards at Iron Alligator Ridge. This arrangement also stemmed from worry that the Liang army might launch a night raid on the Iron Alligator Ridge ruins. At that time, Li Zhigao would have only five hundred soldiers at hand, insufficient to resist—the nearly hundred guards Gao Chengyuan left behind were also carefully selected elite.

Li Zhigao had too few troops available—only six hundred men. Fearing that rashly taking initiative would trap them in a dangerous position, he decided to hold the ruined stronghold, wait for subsequent reinforcements to deploy, and make other decisions based on how the situation developed.

After arranging these matters, Han Qian didn’t stay at Iron Alligator Ridge to assist Li Zhigao in defending the stronghold. On one hand, Li Zhigao didn’t need him staying to give pointers for commanding a battle of this scale. On the other hand, some Liang scout forces had already penetrated toward the eastern foot of Mount Heilong.

Circling around Mount Heilong would reach Canglang City. Before he led the Left Office scouts back, he only had sixty slave soldiers and nearly three hundred civilian laborers available at Canglang City. Han Qian worried about Canglang City being lost, so he boarded boats overnight with Tian Cheng, Xi Ren, and others, traveling down the Dan River back to Canglang City.

Han Qian returned to Canglang City around midnight. Indeed, over a hundred Liang scout cavalry had penetrated through the narrow pass between Mount Heilong and the Han River, lingering in the snowy ground east of Canglang City without leaving.

After a month and a half of rushed construction, and with able-bodied civilian laborers subsequently assembled increasing to eight hundred, Han Qian had still managed to hastily build an earthen city a hundred paces square on the shores of the Dan and Han Rivers.

Though the earthen city was small—perhaps more appropriate to call it a fortified stronghold—the stronghold walls were built of rammed earth, six to eight feet thick at the base. Even at the top, the walls were still three feet thick. With men and horses sheltering inside the fortification, unless the Liang army built siege equipment, they needn’t fear over a hundred Liang scouts daring to attack forcefully.

Seeing that today’s speed of Liang force assembly at Neixiang City and the number of troops somewhat exceeded expectations, Han Qian wrote a letter for Lin Haizheng to deliver by boat back to Xiangzhou City to the Third Prince and Shen Yang. Besides noting that Gao Chengyuan’s Fourth Regiment was already advancing west along the Han River and might pass outside Canglang City tomorrow morning, he hoped the Third Prince and Shen Yang could also transfer the fifteen hundred troops of Guo Liang’s Fifth Regiment from Niushou Stronghold east of Xiangzhou City to advance west, getting as close as possible to Canglang City to prevent the distance being too far to provide timely aid if western front reinforcements were needed.

After entering the city, Han Qian summoned Xi Chang to inquire about the situation.

“Several small Liang detachments appeared outside the city after nightfall, but seeing our tight defenses, besides circling the city to set fire and burn some tents, they made no other moves…” Xi Chang had also been nervous for half the night. Previously, he only had sixty slave soldiers who’d been trained for a month and a half available, truly uncertain how much combat power they had. He feared that with Han Qian remaining at Iron Alligator Ridge, relying on these few slave soldiers, he couldn’t defend Canglang City.

With Han Qian, Tian Cheng, and Xi Ren leading over forty Left Office elite scouts back, Xi Chang’s heart was at ease—at least tonight he could sleep soundly.

At this moment, a commotion arose outside. Han Qian frowned and asked Xi Chang, “What’s happening?”

“The civilian laborers are clamoring to return to their strongholds,” Xi Chang said.

During the day, Han Qian had transferred five hundred civilian laborers from Canglang City to Iron Alligator Ridge. At that time, these laborers didn’t know battle was imminent. But upon reaching Iron Alligator Ridge and seeing the Liang forces, quite a few laborers became agitated. However, Li Zhigao had six hundred elite at Iron Alligator Ridge at that time, able to suppress these laborers.

Han Qian hadn’t expected that the three hundred civilian laborers at Canglang City would also clamor to return to their respective strongholds. Frowning, he told Tian Cheng and Xi Chang, “Go appease these laborers. Tell them the Liang army is merely harassing this area and lacks the power to attack the city. There are also temporarily no boats available to ferry them across the river. After the Liang army withdraws, permit them to return to their strongholds to rest. At that time, each will also be granted five sheng of salt—we absolutely won’t shortchange them.”

Canglang was east of the Dan River and north of the Han River, while the vast majority of strongholds were located in the towering mountains and steep ridges west of the Dan River or south of the Han River. These laborers would need to take boats across the Dan River or Han River to return to their respective strongholds. Of course, whether through coaxing or deception, Han Qian couldn’t possibly allow these able-bodied civilian laborers to leave Canglang City at this time.

Having rushed about for a full day and night without closing his eyes, Han Qian left miscellaneous matters for Tian Cheng and Xi Chang to handle. He returned to his room, removed his armor, and lay on the bed, thinking that at the latest, the Liang army would launch an offensive against Iron Alligator Ridge by tomorrow before noon. If there were no threats on the Canglang City side, he would still need to go to Iron Alligator Ridge to observe the battle’s development.

In his drowsy state, Han Qian heard bells and drums sounding loudly outside. He suddenly jolted awake. Sitting up somewhat confused, he heard Tian Cheng reporting from outside:

“A large Liang force is closing in!”

“A large force? Exactly how many? How could there possibly be a large Liang force attacking Canglang City?” Han Qian was both shocked and puzzled. Taking a fire starter to light the lamp, in his haste he knocked the oil lamp to the ground, shattering it completely.

At this time, dawn was breaking faintly. Han Qian couldn’t worry about much else. He hastily put on his padded clothes, grabbed his armor, sword, and bow, and walked out of the room.

At this moment, Xi Ren had also just finished dressing and hurried over to help Han Qian put on his armor.

“There are roughly over four hundred Liang troops. The three scouts we stationed at the southeastern foot of Mount Heilong haven’t returned to report—they must have been killed!” Tian Cheng said.

“So many Liang troops?” Han Qian was startled.

The Left Office’s elite scout forces were still too few. Besides leaving Fan Dahei to lead one group at Iron Alligator Ridge under Li Zhigao’s command, Han Qian worried about insufficient manpower to defend Canglang City and recalled most of the scouts, leaving only three men in Mount Heilong northeast of Canglang City. He hadn’t expected that none could rush back in time to report.