Li Pu and Wei Zhen led the Qiuhu Army generals to withdraw and rest first. Lin Haizheng said in a muffled voice: “The Chuzhou Army and the Southern Yamen Imperial Guards are unlikely to split their forces south of Jieling Mountain. Once matters here are settled, we can completely take Sitiandun ourselves!”
Sitiandun was a good place—a basin surrounded by mountains on all sides, easy to defend and difficult to attack. To the north it connected to Yangxian and Liyang counties of Runzhou; to the south it bordered Changxing and Anji counties of Huzhou. The mountain ridges at the eastern foot of Xuanjiao Ridge extended directly to the shores of Taihu Lake, allowing trade with the fishing village forces in the lake. They could even go further—have the Xuzhou naval forces disperse and infiltrate Taihu Lake in small groups, forming a naval combat force under their direct control.
Easy to defend and difficult to attack, with relatively easy access to food sources, and direct access to Taihu Lake—Lin Haizheng was reluctant to let the Qiuhu Army occupy such a place.
“Which of Li Pu and Wei Zhen would release their hawks without seeing the rabbit?” Han Qian looked at the terrain map on the table before him and said with a smile, “Right now, hoping the Qiuhu Army can cooperate with us to share some of the pressure means we must let them taste some benefits. Sitiandun is good, yes, and in Xuanjiao Ridge at the eastern foot of Jieling Mountain there’s also an ancient plank road—a shortcut from Huzhou through the southeastern shore of Taihu Lake into Runzhou. We can see the benefits in this, Li Pu and his men can see the benefits in this, but how could Huzhou’s Huang Hua, the Chuzhou Army, and Prince Xin not see it?”
Han Qian said these words with a smile, but he knew in his heart how great the pressure he bore was.
Currently, so many elderly, weak, women and children were evacuating into the Fuyu Mountains, and the Chishan Army’s main force had also largely withdrawn into the old Guangde county territory. But the pressure Han Qian shouldered had not decreased by half because of this—retreating even half a step would still be a bottomless abyss, still walking on thin ice at every step.
The Chishan Army had conscripted young and able-bodied slaves, quickly expanding their forces to thirty thousand men. But the proportion who could truly be called strong and healthy was very low, which was directly related to the stratification that existed within the slave population.
Those serving as elite household troops and retainers, as well as slaves who served their masters personally, though also of slave status, had much better conditions in food, clothing, housing and transportation than the lowest-level slaves who served as laborers, and had relatively closer relationships with their master families.
They were even more willing to depend on aristocratic clans, without having to bear the heavy burdens of land taxes and labor conscription.
And during these three or four months when food was most scarce, they basically hadn’t suffered much hunger. When their masters fled to the cities to escape the chaos of war, they would be taken along first.
Those who truly could not be cared for—or rather, who were abandoned first and left to fend for themselves—were still those at the very bottom, those who served as laborers and were exploited the most severely.
It was precisely the latter who accounted for an extremely high proportion of the troops and dependents who had joined the Chishan Army.
On one hand, they engaged in the most arduous labor and almost no one had any opportunity for education, so their organizational capacity was poor.
On the other hand, they were at the very bottom of society, malnourished and sallow-faced from childhood. And since the beginning of this year, their grain rations had been even more restrictive, making their physical condition worrisome.
Apart from the remnants of the Taowu garrison troops, the Chishan Army had received over one hundred and seventy thousand slaves during this period. Men between the ages of fifteen and forty-five totaled nearly sixty thousand. Yet the thirty thousand qualified soldiers barely selected from them might not even match the physical condition of the healthy women in the women’s camp. Those who could be called strong numbered only a few thousand, and were currently being prioritized for supplementing the First Division.
The forces of the Second and Third Divisions each numbered around nine thousand men, but in terms of personnel and equipment, they were truly no different from refugee armies.
However, Han Qian had no way to provide sufficient nutrition in the short term to improve their physical condition.
After all, since moving into Maoshan, food supply had always been a sword hanging over their heads. Because of this, their area of activity was too limited. Even though new grain requisitions came in from time to time, compared to the population that had joined them, the supply period for stored grain was getting shorter and shorter.
Currently, the daily grain ration for soldiers had been reduced to one sheng—only one-third of the normal adequate supply. For the women and children scattered in the mountains, grain rations had been further reduced to the extreme level of one sheng every three days.
At such a time, there was even less to say about sufficient armor and weapons supply.
The Chishan Army’s situation was so dire, while the Chuzhou Army to their north, the Xuanzhou forces to the southwest, and the Huzhou forces to the east were all militarily strong and well-supplied with materials.
The Chishan Army still needed to win several battles to truly break through their situation, but each battle could not afford the slightest mistake.
Before having complete confidence, Han Qian would absolutely not commit troops lightly. Therefore, no matter how good Sitiandun’s position was, he had to hold back.
Even if they successfully captured Sitiandun with relatively small casualties, they would simultaneously face pressure from the Chuzhou Army to the north and Huzhou forces to the east in the northeastern corner. Their limited elite forces would be tied down there, causing their subsequent attempts to expand outward to multiply in difficulty.
Han Qian would rather give up this key point of Sitiandun to the Qiuhu Army, let Li Pu occupy it, to ensure that elite combat forces were not dispersed.
Having firmly rejected Lin Haizheng’s proposal for the First Division to attack Sitiandun, Han Qian then said to Feng Yi:
“Gu Zhilong’s attitude is still ambiguous for now, but you still need to go see him. The Chishan Army can agree to use Tingzi Mountain and Yuhe Creek as the boundary—not a single soldier will cross it—but the Xuanzhou forces also cannot cross the boundary. At the same time, we need Gu Zhilong to open up trade in grain, hemp cloth, iron materials, and salt…”
“Gu Zhilong’s attitude is ambiguous—that’s his ambiguous attitude toward the Anning Palace and the Chuzhou Army, but he may not necessarily be ambiguous toward us. If I go to Langxi, I might not even be allowed to enter the city,” Feng Yi said.
“I’ll write a letter. If Gu Zhilong doesn’t allow you to enter the city, you can shoot my letter into the city. At least we must let Gu Zhilong and the Xuanzhou aristocratic clans feel that we do have some sincerity.” Han Qian spread out paper and brush, dipped his brush in ink and wrote.
Feng Yi leaned over to watch Han Qian’s humble and even deferential choice of words and phrasing, his brow slightly furrowed as he said: “If you truly want to coexist peacefully with the Xuanzhou forces, having your old master or your eldest uncle come forward would be far more effective than having this wastrel son go to lobby.”
“Perhaps I should accompany Feng Yi on a trip to Langxi City?” Zhang Ping said. “The so-called nurturing a tiger invites trouble, the so-called allowing others to sleep soundly beside one’s couch—I believe Gu Zhilong understands these principles in his heart. But faced with enormous military pressure, if Gu Zhilong is truly anxious to divert this calamity of the Chishan Army toward Huzhou, I think as long as our proposed conditions aren’t too excessive, Gu Zhilong and the Xuanzhou aristocratic clans might make some compromises.”
With strong enemies on three sides, even just maintaining the status quo with Gu Zhilong and ensuring that the elderly, weak, women and children entering the Fuyu Mountains wouldn’t be suppressed by Xuanzhou forces from the west would greatly relieve the pressure the Chishan Army currently faced.
Of course, Zhang Ping also knew that the Han family had enormous influence in Xuanzhou. If they could truly persuade old master Han Wenhuan or Han Daoming or Han Daochang to go lobby in Xuanzhou, the effect would be even better.
However, old master Han was currently in Yueyang, and Han Qian’s relationship with his eldest and second uncles was so terrible that Zhang Ping in his heart greatly doubted whether Han Qian would lower his head to his eldest and second uncles.
Han Qian pondered for a moment and said: “It would be excellent for Magistrate Zhang to accompany Feng Yi to Langxi—as for Yueyang, I’ll also write a letter and have someone deliver it.”
Zhang Ping was quite surprised, but thought to himself that if Han Qian was willing to lower his head slightly, it would certainly be of great benefit to improving the Chishan Army’s situation.
……
……
From Nantang Fortress south to Tingzi Mountain and east to Anji county territory was basically all within the Chishan Army’s control zone. The Xuanzhou forces were still obediently holed up in cities like Langxi, so only a small number of troops needed to be dispatched to guide the Lishui county people to continue forward.
The Qiuhu Army’s three thousand elite troops could also temporarily make camp west of Nantang Fortress to rest and reorganize.
After Li Pu and his men withdrew from Nantang Fortress and returned to their temporary camp, weighing the pros and cons and deliberating until the middle of the night, they also felt they should take Sitiandun and establish themselves independently at the southeastern foot of Jieling Mountain, in order to grasp a certain degree of initiative rather than doing everything according to Han Qian’s wishes.
Unlike Lishui City, which was located in open plains, Sitiandun was surrounded by steep mountain ridges on all sides—easy to defend and difficult to attack. Especially the Xuanjiao Ridge bordering Taihu Lake to the northeast, which had a depth of thirty to forty li, was an excellent foothold.
When the time came, even if Han Qian tricked them again and withdrew the Chishan Army’s main force without warning, they could still hold their ground there and wouldn’t be as embarrassed and chaotic as this time.
After studying all night and even working out a rough operational plan, seeing that dawn had broken, Li Pu couldn’t be bothered to rest. He ran back to Nantang Fortress to find Han Qian and tell him of their action plan.
Wei Zhen and Wanhonglou manager Xu Jing and others would be responsible for the subsequent migration of Lishui county people. Yao Xishui and Yun Puzi would escort Li Yu to Guangde Fortress to recuperate, while Li Pu would personally lead Li Xiu, Chen Mingsheng, Li Qi, Wei Huang and others commanding the Qiuhu Army’s three thousand elite troops to strike directly at Jinzhong Ridge between Jieling Mountain and Fuyu Mountain.
Without dependents slowing them down, they could control Jinzhong Ridge west of Sitiandun in about two days and complete the clearing of Sitiandun’s perimeter.
However, they also hoped that before then, the Chishan Army could make a threatening posture toward Anji county or Changxing county in western Huzhou, to attract the main force of the state troops led by Huzhou Prefect Huang Hua to the border area between Changxing and Anji counties, primarily to guard against the Chishan Army’s main force advancing east.
Sitiandun had four to five hundred clan troops from aristocratic families. They could try a frontal assault, but if Huzhou dispatched over a thousand reinforcements to enter Xu Family Fortress inside Sitiandun, the difficulty would be too great. They couldn’t take such a military risk when their foothold was not yet stable.
“No problem,” facing Li Pu’s request, Han Qian stared at the terrain map spread out on the long table and said, “I’ll immediately order Gao Shao’s forces, which have already entered the eastern territory of old Guangde county, to continue pressing toward Jiudu Mountain and Xianshan Lake at the junction of Anji county, Changxing county and old Guangde county, hoping to draw the attention of the Huzhou forces…”
Han Qian agreed readily and straightforwardly, which instead made Li Pu hesitate, suspecting whether Han Qian had other ulterior motives. But he couldn’t openly question anything. After Li Xiu, Wei Zhen, Chen Mingsheng and others took their leave, he seemed somewhat distracted and worried.
The morning was overcast and not so hot. Yao Xishui and Yun Puzi were preparing to first send Li Yu to Guangde Fortress to recuperate.
Seeing Li Pu return with a heavy heart, Yao Xishui asked hesitantly: “Did Han Qian not agree to the Marquis’s request?”
“He agreed, he agreed, but he agreed too readily…” Li Pu said hesitantly.
Li Yu sighed inwardly, coughed violently for a while, then pointed out: “If the Chishan Army’s forces press eastward, posing a threat to Anji and Changxing cities, besides helping you draw in the Huzhou forces’ main strength, Han Qian also needs to protect so many elderly, weak, women and children—he needs to strive to completely control the eastern flank region of old Guangde county. Looking ahead and behind, sometimes being overcautious causes greater harm than having an incomplete strategy… cough cough cough… Han Qian had you attack Lishui and defend Lishui, making the Chuzhou Army and Southern Yamen Imperial Guards suspicious. You feel used, but think about it—where did you actually suffer a loss?”
Li Pu’s face turned red from Li Yu’s words. Yao Xishui, however, had something on her mind.
She thought to herself that a month ago, Li Xiu and Li Yu had only led over three hundred cavalry guards here, stationed at Little Mao Peak with little they could accomplish. Though today seemed embarrassing, the Qiuhu Army’s banner had been raised and they now commanded three thousand elite troops.
If they could truly protect the Lishui county people in establishing roots at Sitiandun, they could further ensure that the various clan troops and their young masters would have their interests bound together.
In this age when soldiers were valued for quality not quantity, three to four thousand elite combat forces were actually not to be underestimated. Moreover, among the twenty-some thousand Lishui county people, there were still three to four thousand able-bodied men whose military potential could be developed.
While the Chishan Army seemed imposing with many troops, their most fundamental problems had not been resolved.
If this weren’t the case, why would Han Qian need to hastily retreat south, and why would he need to dispatch Zhang Ping and Feng Yi so early in the morning to rush to Langxi City to show weakness and seek peace with Gu Zhilong?
They couldn’t lose their ability to judge the overall situation just because they had been led by the nose by Han Qian these past few times, and become disheartened.
The Prince’s meaning should be this, shouldn’t it?