“…That Yuanpu understands his duty as an Imperial Prince to defend the realm brings me great comfort…”

Emperor Tianyou’s imperial edict consisted of merely a few hundred words. Beyond encouraging the soldiers to fight with dedication, appointing the Third Imperial Prince Yang Yuanpu as concurrent Regional Commander of Junzhou, and expressing father-son sentiments to Yang Yuanpu, there was little room for additional content. The current situation in Jinling and Great Chu would need to be reported in person by Shen He and Yang En.

Before Han Qian notified Guo Rong, he had already dispatched a boat downriver two days earlier to rush to Jinling and meet Marquis Xinchang Li Pu.

Han Qian and Chai Jian hoped that after Marquis Xinchang Li Pu received the news, he could promptly seek an imperial audience, enabling Jinling to prepare reinforcements as early as possible.

However, Jinling did not confirm the news that Liang Prince Yong Zhu Yu was personally leading the elite Xuanjia Guard into Nanyang until late in the first month. By then, news of the fall of Yingzhou, Suizhou, and other regions had also reached Jinling.

In truth, Jinling was deeply divided over how to reinforce Xiangzhou.

The fundamental dispute centered on whether the Third Imperial Prince Yang Yuanpu could hold Xichuan City and whether Du Chongtao could hold Xiangzhou City—the Jinling officials had little confidence in either prospect.

If Jinling organized an army of over a hundred thousand to enter the Han River basin, and Xiangzhou City and Xichuan City subsequently fell one after another, the reinforcements would face a devastating counterattack from the main elite Liang forces. The offensive and defensive positions would completely reverse, making it extremely unfavorable for Chu forces to enter the Han River basin.

Jinling also had to consider the attitudes of Tanzhou to the south and the State of Shu to the west.

However, regardless of these concerns, even if the Third Imperial Prince was not in Xiangzhou, Jinling would absolutely not easily abandon the Jing-Xiang region. Emperor Tianyou immediately dispatched Vice Bureau Commander of the Bureau of Military Affairs Niu Gengru, Junior Supervisor of the Palace Attendants Bureau Shen He, Right Arsenal Office Yang En, and Director of the Regional Records Office Zhao Mingting, among others, to rush to Jingzhou to take command, ensuring this ancient strategic stronghold would not fall into Liang hands.

Jingzhou faced Tanzhou to the south, bordered Xiangzhou to the north, and blocked Shu forces to the west. Its strategic position in the Chu realm was no less important than Xiangzhou. Jingzhou Regional Commander Zhang Xiang was a famous general on par with Du Chongtao.

Besides local garrison forces, Jingzhou also had ten thousand elite Right Martial Guard troops from the Southern Court Imperial Guard stationed there.

This was the key reason why Liang Prince Yong Zhu Yu, after capturing Pingzhou with the elite Xuanjia Guard, had not rushed south to attack Jingzhou.

Of course, facing the menacing Liang army, General Zhang Xiang only tightly guarded the northern gateway to Jingzhou and dared not rashly dispatch troops northward, fearing losses to Jingzhou.

If Jingzhou fell, Great Chu would lose its foothold on the western bank of the Han River. Once the Liang army faced Tanzhou across the river, if they secretly negotiated peace, the situation would become even more dire.

After Vice Bureau Commander of the Bureau of Military Affairs Niu Gengru arrived in Jingzhou, he stabilized the panicked populace and served as the vanguard for Jinling’s westward reinforcements. Shen He’s journey to Jingzhou, then traveling in disguise with the imperial edict through mountains and rivers to Xichuan City, was a direct order from Emperor Tianyou.

Du Chongtao, as a general on the same level as Zhang Xiang, had rendered outstanding service in establishing Great Chu. With considerable experience and the elite Left Martial Guard troops under his command—whose families all resided in Jinling—both Du Chongtao and his Left Martial Guard soldiers had proven their loyalty to Emperor Tianyou through tested devotion.

As long as provisions were not exhausted, Jinling had some confidence that Du Chongtao could hold Xiangzhou City. However, even if Du Chongtao could hold Xiangzhou City, whether Xichuan City could be held would make an enormous difference in how Jinling’s reinforcements would conduct operations in the Han River basin.

If Xichuan City could be held, not only would Liang forces be unable to transport troops and provisions from Guanzhong into Jing-Xiang via the Dan River, they would necessarily have considerable elite Liang forces tied down on the flank. Otherwise, the entire flank of the Liang line from Fangcheng to Fancheng would be exposed under the watchful eyes of Xichuan’s defenders.

Perhaps the Liang-held cities along this line need not fear harassment from Xichuan forces, but how many troops would they need to deploy to protect their supply lines as provisions continuously flowed from Xuzhou in the rear to Fancheng, guarding against ambush?

However, although the Third Imperial Prince Yang Yuanpu had resolutely taken command of Xichuan, vowing to lead the Dragon Sparrow Army in strangling the Dan River passage, regardless of how Marquis Xinchang Li Pu and the Imperial Consort advocated, few in Jinling City believed the Third Imperial Prince and the Dragon Sparrow Army—formed from plague-stricken refugees—could possibly withstand the wolf-like Liang army and hold Xichuan.

Emperor Tianyou’s order for Shen He to travel directly to Xichuan after reaching Jingzhou was to verify the actual condition of Xichuan’s defenders and confirm exactly how likely holding Xichuan truly was.

This would directly determine how Jinling’s forces would deploy their reinforcement operations after reaching Jing-Xiang.

Although Yang En had no opportunity to directly command large armies in his early years, during Emperor Tianyou’s many years of campaigning, Yang En had personally supervised the construction of major fortifications and war machinery.

Deep in his heart, Emperor Tianyou yearned for Xichuan City to hold. Beyond preserving the life of the Third Imperial Prince Yang Yuanpu, holding Xichuan City would also make the Jing-Xiang campaign considerably simpler.

Emperor Tianyou ordered Yang En to travel with Shen He, undertaking tremendous risk to enter Xichuan, hoping Yang En could provide substantial assistance in supporting the Third Imperial Prince’s defense of Xichuan City.

Throughout the journey, Shen He worried they would arrive to find Xichuan already fallen, their northward journey becoming a trap. Unexpectedly, upon reaching Xichuan, not only had the city not fallen, but the ruined fortifications, the garrison soldiers, and even the Third Imperial Prince Yang Yuanpu himself all displayed a vigorous heroic spirit far better than they had imagined before departing.

Although Yang Yuanpu had previously sent multiple reports back to Jinling describing the progress and situation of battles from Xichuan to Jingzi Crossing, and Shen He had personally seen the confidential memorials from Yang Yuanpu and Shen Yang presented before the imperial desk, he still did not quite believe the Third Imperial Prince could manage such a complex and dire situation.

He had even suspected that after the Third Imperial Prince and Shen Yang were trapped in Xichuan, they had exaggerated in their memorials with the sole purpose of hastening Jinling’s reinforcements into Jing-Xiang to engage the main Liang forces, thereby facilitating their own relief and escape.

However, if this were true, and Jinling’s reinforcements misjudged Xichuan’s defensive situation and hastily entered Jing-Xiang, it could directly threaten Great Chu’s survival—an extremely reckless gamble.

Now, seeing that the Third Imperial Prince’s and Shen Yang’s memorials had truthfully reported the situation in Xichuan, Shen He breathed an internal sigh of relief while also feeling secretly shocked. He could not fathom how they had accomplished this.

After all, the stratagems and calculations behind events would never be fully detailed in memorials sent to Jinling.

Before Shen He and Yang En, Yang Yuanpu and Han Qian would absolutely never admit that before advancing westward, they had already confirmed Prince Yong of Liang was in Wancheng.

However, hearing how the Third Imperial Prince, after advancing westward, first executed Xia Zhen, divided Yingzhou provincial troops among Zheng Hui and other units to stabilize Xichuan’s military morale, then won over mountain stronghold forces, decisively abandoned Canglang City and Iron Alligator Ridge to concentrate troops and supplies at Jingzi Crossing and Xichuan—Shen He and Yang En both exhaled deeply and could not help praising:

“It is only through Your Highness’s brilliant judgment that the final opportunity for victory in the Jing-Xiang campaign has been preserved.”

Although Shen He and Yang En both knew that without the assistance and strategic counsel of Shen Yang and others, the Third Imperial Prince could not have accomplished this, they could not deny that Xichuan had not fallen and the Jing-Xiang situation had not deteriorated to a desperate state—the Third Imperial Prince’s decisiveness and courage had played a crucial role.

With his nerves somewhat settled, Shen He now observed the Third Imperial Prince again and had to acknowledge that though the Third Imperial Prince was still young, compared to their parting in Jinling, his bearing had become more composed and he appeared even more heroically vigorous. He wondered silently: could this truly be the imperial prince’s demeanor His Majesty expected—the one that the Anning Palace’s machinations could never suppress?

“The Han River East counties have all fallen, yet Xichuan and Jingzi Crossing stand firm as rocks, serving as bulwarks for Xiangzhou, preventing the Liang army from advancing unchecked. Beyond Your Highness, all generals and officials have rendered meritorious service in defense. Due to treacherous roads, rewards of silver, grain, and jade cannot arrive quickly, but His Majesty has ordered us to bring over a hundred blank certificates of appointment, allowing Your Highness to determine which generals and officials should receive rewards.” Shen He unwrapped another bundle he carried and presented it before the Third Imperial Prince.

Besides Emperor Tianyou’s edict formally establishing the new Junzhou and appointing the Third Imperial Prince as concurrent Regional Commander of Junzhou, he and Yang En had also brought a thick stack of blank certificates for merit positions and official appointments, enabling the Third Imperial Prince to boost morale among generals and officials and defend Xichuan and Jingzi Crossing—these two strategic locations—to the death.

Although memorials from the Third Imperial Prince and Shen Yang had requested merit recognition for Li Zhigao, Han Qian, Zhou Dan, and even Yang Qin, Tian Cheng, and others, the fastest elite scouts currently took a month for round trips between Xichuan and Jinling. Jinling could not promptly grasp developments in Xichuan and did not know which individuals would still be alive when the certificates arrived.

Boosting morale naturally meant first rewarding living generals and officials. Posthumous honors for fallen warriors could wait until after the war. Therefore, Shen He and Yang En simply brought blank certificates, allowing the Third Imperial Prince to fill them in directly here. The Bureau of Military Affairs, Ministry of War, and Ministry of Personnel would then provide retrospective approval.

Yang Yuanpu badly needed these certificates of appointment.

Li Zhigao, Zheng Hui, Guo Liang, and others were all Great Chu generals and officials who need not worry about lacking rewards for holding Xichuan. Even if they died in battle, their descendants would enjoy hereditary privileges. However, Yang Yuanpu currently needed concrete rewards to secure the loyalty of mountain stronghold chieftains like Zhou Dan.

Beyond Zhou Dan and others leading nearly two thousand stronghold soldiers and over three thousand laborers to directly participate in defending the city, the situation at Xichuan and Jingzi Crossing had not further deteriorated primarily because the rugged mountain ranges west of the Dan River and Xichuan River extending to Jingzi Crossing were all within various mountain strongholds’ spheres of influence. This gave the defending soldiers a psychological sense that Xichuan and Jingzi Crossing still possessed considerable strategic depth, that they had not completely fallen into a desperate situation of being tightly besieged by Liang forces in isolation and without aid.

Although the mountain strongholds could not provide much direct assistance for now, their psychological effect on stabilizing military morale was immeasurable.

On another front, with Liang scouts unable to infiltrate the mountain ranges west of the Xichuan River and Dan River, Han Qian and Yang Yuanpu could maintain real-time awareness of developments in the outer perimeter from within Xichuan City. This had also enabled Shen He and Yang En to arrive without incident.

Meanwhile, Yang Qin could shuttle warships between Jingzi Crossing and Xichuan without fearing interdiction or attacks from Liang forces. They even dared to break through the Liang blockade at Iron Alligator Ridge, sailing ships to the Canglang City area to reconnoiter Liang deployments along the Black Dragon Mountain line.