The climate on the southern foothills of the Qinling Mountains was far more temperate than the north. By late February, the withered and desolate mountain peaks showed faint traces of green, no longer so dull and lifeless.
Looking down from the wall top, blood stains that rainwater hadn’t washed away still remained in the gaps between broken wall bricks. Tender yellow grass stems, as if nourished by flesh and blood, had now stubbornly pushed their heads out. There were even one or two tiny pale pink nameless flowers already in bloom.
Han Qian stood atop the city wall, his expression grave as he gazed in all directions.
Though by now a hundred twenty thousand Liang troops had passed through the Fangcheng Gap, trampling into Jing-Xiang lands like a rolling iron torrent, the Liang army had no way to completely blockade the towering mountains and steep ridges on the Dan River’s western bank. Therefore, though Han Qian and the others were trapped in Xichuan city, they could still keep abreast of developments in the situation on the Han River’s eastern and southern banks.
Zaoyang, Suizhou, Yingzhou, and other cities fell in succession with almost no decent resistance. In late January of the fourteenth year of Tianyou, the Liang army’s southern front main force, centered on the Black Armored Division, all crossed the Han River eastward from Yingzhou city, entering the Shimen Mountain line on the Han River’s western bank.
The southern front Liang army first captured Pingzhou city south of Shimen Mountain, then resolutely advanced north, engaging in consecutive fierce battles with Du Chongtao’s forces at Beijie Mountain and Xuancheng.
The Liang army had numerous troops, moreover strong soldiers and fierce generals, fighting courageously. In early February, Du Chongtao had no choice but to abandon Beijie Mountain, Xuancheng, and other strategic passes north of Xiangzhou city, causing the Liang army to press upon Xiangzhou city from the south.
Simultaneously, the northern front Liang army also advanced to the walls of Fancheng on the Han River’s northern bank.
The Liang army had taken important cities on the Han River’s eastern bank like Zaoyang, Suizhou, and Yingzhou almost without bloodshed. Besides over ten thousand local garrison troops becoming prisoners of war, hundreds of thousands of people on the Han River’s eastern bank also fell under Liang army control. This enabled the Liang army’s northern and southern front forces, pressing upon Xiangzhou city and Fancheng, to quickly conscript over thirty thousand able-bodied laborers from the Han River’s eastern bank to participate in constructing siege works and manufacturing war engines.
Fancheng and Xiangzhou city faced each other across the Han River. Xiangzhou’s naval battalion also possessed over two thousand soldiers and officers plus nearly a hundred warships large and small, connecting the two cities. Logically speaking, with Fancheng and Xiangzhou supporting each other like horns, they could act like a giant sky-cutting lock, firmly locking the Han River at its waist.
It was just unfortunate that the world—or more accurately the Chu court, which was based in the Jiang-Huai region and currently focusing more effort on developing southward—placed more importance on Xiangzhou city south of the Han River. Their understanding of Fancheng on the Han River’s northern bank, or rather of Xiang-Fan as a unified strategic defensive position, was severely inadequate.
Du Chongtao and his predecessors stationed at Deng-Xiang, as well as other prefects, military commissioners, and high officials appointed to Jing-Xiang, mainly devoted full effort to restoring people’s livelihoods in prefectures and counties south and east of the Han River.
Even when repairing cities, priority went to Yingzhou and Suizhou on the eastern bank, Xiangzhou city and Xuancheng on the southern bank, and similar cities.
North of the Han River, people had scattered and fled, land lay barren. Even if Du Chongtao had the will, he could only allocate money and grain from Xiangzhou—he lacked the power to repair them.
When Han Qian and the others arrived at Xiangzhou last winter, Fancheng’s city walls still had collapsed gaps everywhere.
After last winter when warfare intensified, money and grain transferred into Xiangzhou from Jiang-E and other prefectures surged. Only then did Du Chongtao have surplus capacity to begin repairing northern front fortifications.
However, before confirming that Prince Yong of Liang Zhu Yu led Black Armored Division elites into the Nanyang Basin, the Deng-Xiang Campaign Headquarters severely underestimated the Liang army’s strategic objectives on the western flank. They thought what they ultimately needed to resist was merely second-line Liang forces conducting raids without much determination.
Thus, limited money and grain were all distributed to repairing numerous northern front fortifications like Zaoyang and Tang River, not concentrated on Fancheng’s repairs.
In the end, cities like Zaoyang and Tang River all fell into Liang hands without bloodshed. When the Liang army killed their way to Fancheng’s walls, the decrepit old walls battered by wind and rain, ravaged by over a dozen conflicts in nearly a hundred years, hadn’t even been demolished. They merely first repaired the gaps, then directly built up from the remnant wall foundations to over three zhang high.
One could easily imagine how fragile Fancheng’s wall structure and foundations were.
The Liang army this time was determined to occupy Jing-Xiang and made ample preparations for assaulting great cities. They had large numbers of craftsmen with their army. In early February, they manufactured a batch of catapults, collecting stone material day and night without rest to bombard Fancheng.
After just over ten days, Fancheng’s defending troops and civilians had suffered over two thousand casualties. The fragile walls also collapsed in stretches, no longer defensible.
Du Chongtao had no choice but to abandon Fancheng, withdrawing the final remaining garrison of less than twenty thousand to Xiangzhou city on the southern bank.
Xiangzhou’s naval battalion, possessing nearly a hundred warships large and small, lost the open waters to maneuver against the enemy near Xiangzhou city. They attempted to break through at night downstream along the Han River to enter the Yangtze River and rendezvous with Jinling’s navy. But when passing through waters southeast of Yicheng, they were surrounded by over a hundred fire ships loaded with firewood and oil that the Liang army ignited and maneuvered toward them.
After Fancheng fell, Xiangzhou army soldiers’ and officers’ morale was depressed. When the naval battalion encountered a surprise attack during night sailing, they had no will to fight, thinking only of escape. In the end, they were routed by Liang naval forces hastily organized from captured surrendered troops. Over a thousand soldiers and officers drowned, seventy to eighty warships were burned and destroyed.
After Fancheng fell, in the middle reaches of the Han River aside from Xiangzhou city, strategic passes and fortifications had almost all fallen into Liang hands. The Liang army moreover built iron-chain pontoon bridges between Fancheng and their southern bank fortifications, strengthening contact between the Han River’s northern and southern banks, making final preparations for a strong assault on Xiangzhou city.
When Zaoyang fell, Han Qian and the others first abandoned Canglang city. Before the Liang army could launch another surprise attack, they moved Canglang city’s supplies plus nearly three thousand people including convict troops, mountain stronghold recruited troops under Zhou Dan, and laborers into Xichuan city in the first instance.
Zhou Shu’s Third Battalion of the Dragon Sparrow Army immediately took ships to rush to Jingzi Pass.
After the Liang army captured Fancheng, Han Qian and the others also finally abandoned Iron Crocodile Ridge, withdrawing Li Zhigao and Guo Liang’s forces into Xichuan city.
Currently, Chai Jian, Gao Chengyuan, and Zhou Shu commanded the Dragon Sparrow Army’s Third and Fourth Battalions plus Zhang Bao’s Xiangzhou army unit—over three thousand troops total—resisting at Jingzi Pass the offensive of over ten thousand Liang Guanzhong army troops attacking from the Wuguan direction.
Because Jingzi Pass’s terrain was narrow and precipitous, unfavorable for Liang forces to deploy, and simultaneously the Liang army had controlled Guanzhong region for only a short time, the Liang Guanzhong army’s fighting will was far less resolute than the Liang army’s main elite forces—therefore Chai Jian, Gao Chengyuan, Zhou Shu, Zhang Bao, and the others only needed to defend the fortifications to the death until grain ran out.
The situation on Xichuan city’s side was much more severe.
Li Zhigao, Guo Liang, Zheng Hui, Zhou Dan, plus the Xuzhou Battalion now under Han Qian’s direct command—after dividing up Yingzhou provincial troops, total forces were just slightly over eight thousand. Xichuan city was also in terrible disrepair.
Before them, commanding general Han Yuanqi commanded nearly forty thousand Liang troops—fully four to five times their number.
However, the Liang army also recognized that Xichuan’s garrison was well-prepared with resolute fighting will. Knowing it would be difficult to take quickly, they were unwilling to pointlessly consume elite warriors in bloody siege combat. Their early operational focus was mainly east of Fancheng, only recently shifting westward.
Han Qian stood atop the wall here, holding a spyglass, clearly able to see more and more Liang craftsmen gathering, urgently felling trees and dragging them to camps built utilizing Xichuan’s outer ruined forts, hurrying to construct tower wagons, wheeled shields, siege vehicles, catapults, and other siege engines.
When Yang Yuanpu wanted to take the spyglass from Han Qian’s hands to observe the enemy camp, they saw the western gate near Xichuan River dock slowly opening at this time.
“What’s happening?” Yang Yuanpu asked Han Qian in confusion.
Though Xichuan city’s western wall backed against Xichuan River with only four to five hundred paces of open ground between, and the dock area still had the Xuzhou boat guild’s eight warships and three hundred naval troops—insufficient for the Liang army to force their way through—under normal circumstances, even during daytime, casually opening city gates was strictly forbidden.
Han Qian sent someone to rush to the western city gate to inquire what matter required opening the gate at this time. Raising his spyglass to look, he saw Shen Yang and Chen De currently inspecting the western wall. He said to the Third Imperial Prince, “Master Shen Yang is over there. Perhaps Du Chongtao has sent a military messenger who broke through from Xiangzhou city to reach Xichuan.”
Though Xiangzhou city hadn’t fallen and Du Chongtao still had nearly twenty thousand garrison troops in Xiangzhou, what condition the garrison was in, what their morale was like, whether supplies stored in the city were sufficient—Han Qian and the others weren’t particularly clear.
At this time, Xiangzhou city and Xichuan city were two isolated islands trapped in the Liang army’s vast ocean. Even spiritually, they needed to give each other mutual support to possibly hold firm until reinforcements arrived.
Whether Xiangzhou city or Xichuan city—if either city fell, for the garrison morale of the other city it would be a devastating blow.
Hearing it might be Du Chongtao sending a military messenger, Yang Yuanpu was also very happy, about to pull Han Qian to rush directly to the western city.
At this time, through his spyglass, Han Qian saw Shen Yang and Chen De, expressions excited, walking down from the wall ascent path, striding toward the western gate tunnel to greet someone. After a brief moment, Han Qian saw Inner Palace Bureau Junior Supervisor Shen He, thin as if dehydrated, plus Marquis Liyang and Right Arsenal Material Officer Yang En, under the escort of Gao Shao and others, walking into the city in a bedraggled state.
“It’s not a military messenger sent by Du Chongtao—it’s envoys sent by His Majesty from Jinling!” At this moment, Han Qian also couldn’t help shouting out in excitement.
……
……
“This old servant truly missed Your Highness to death. All along the way here, I thought I would never see Your Highness again…”
Shen He and Yang En had suffered greatly all along the route. Especially heading north from Jingzhou, to avoid Liang army ears and eyes, traveling over mountains and through waters all the way, they even encountered Liang army scouts three times in deep mountain forests.
Nearly half the bodyguards they brought along died before Shen He and Yang En managed to enter Xichuan city alive and meet face to face with Third Imperial Prince Yang Yuanpu.
Yang En in earlier years had experienced life-and-death situations with Emperor Tianyou many times. Even after reaching Xichuan city, with his subsequent life and death still uncertain, he had no particular reaction.
Shen He mainly served in the Inner Palace, accustomed to scheming and infighting but hadn’t experienced much dangerous warfare. The journey had exhausted him to the extreme. At this time, nearly limp and collapsing on the ground, he grasped the Third Imperial Prince’s hand, his voice choking with sobs—this could be considered unable to restrain emotions, a genuine outpouring of true feelings.
“Magistrate Shen please rise. Uncle Marquis please take a seat.” Yang Yuanpu happily helped Shen He and Yang En to their seats.
If Shen He hadn’t already changed into official robes upon entering the city, Yang Yuanpu and the others would have had difficulty recognizing that the Shen He who was plump and white when they parted in Jinling had now become thin and dark by a great degree.
“This is His Majesty’s personal edict!”
Shen He unfastened his belt, removing Emperor Tianyou’s personal edict hidden within the belt.
When Shen He and Yang En rushed to Xichuan, all along the way they were blockaded by Liang army scouts. They had made mental preparations to abandon their baggage at any moment, sewing Emperor Tianyou’s personal edict together with the belt to prevent losing it.
In urgent times, naturally everything was simplified. Yang Yuanpu received the edict, gesturing for Shen Yang, Han Qian, Zheng Hui, Li Zhigao, and others to gather around and look together. He certainly wouldn’t go through the elaborate ritual of setting up an incense table to receive the edict.