The troops drawn from various divisions to follow Han Qian in penetrating deep into Huaiyang Mountain could be said to be the elite among Tangyi’s forces; outsiders could confirm this from the lineup of Tangyi generals accompanying Han Qian’s campaign.

It was difficult to imagine what kind of upheaval the Jianghuai situation would face if these seven or eight thousand elite troops suffered irreparable heavy losses in Huaiyang Mountain.

Although Han Qian had signed military orders before the campaign, conscripting over ten thousand able-bodied militiamen into the army, so that the number of soldiers on the Chu River and Fucha Mountain defensive lines had actually increased, commanding troops in battle was never about counting heads.

What mattered was quality, not quantity.

The Huaidong situation was already extremely difficult. If the situation in Huaixi, which had finally stabilized, changed again, would the princes and ministers in Jinling City still be able to sleep soundly with their arms around their women?

Everyone knew that Li Zhigao’s refusal to withdraw troops from the defensive lines already showed utmost benevolence and righteousness. He had no obligation to, without adequate preparation, send out his direct elite forces to storm enemy defensive lines at any cost for the Marquis of Qianyang’s independent decision and risky maneuver made without warning.

If they wanted that, they needed to offer sufficiently tempting conditions.

Perhaps it was the rare occasion of Cishou Palace and the Han family standing together again, or perhaps many princes and ministers didn’t want to play with fire anymore—the imperial edict appointing Li Zhigao as Vice Minister of War and concurrently Governor of Sui and Shu prefectures, Military Commissioner of Shu, Sui, Ying, Deng, Xiang, and Jun prefectures, Commander of the Left Vermillion Bird Army, and controller of the Left Wuwei Army, was delivered to Shu Prefecture on the last day of the first month.

As a condition, they couldn’t wait until troops from Sui, Ying, Deng, Xiang, and Jun prefectures had all assembled at Yingshan County and Lishan County before taking action. After receiving the imperial edict, Zhou Shu needed to immediately lead several thousand elite troops of the Left Wuwei Army already stationed in Yingshan County and Lishan County to advance from Wusheng Pass and Pingjing Pass toward the northwestern foothills of Huaiyang Mountain, attracting as many elite Shouzhou troops as possible to western Huo Prefecture in the shortest time.

Simultaneously, Junior Supervisor of Attendants Yuan Guowei, by imperial order, accompanied Han Daochang in crossing the steep mountain ranges of Huaiyang Mountain’s southern foothills from within Shu Prefecture territory to comfort the raiding forces at Wujin Ridge.

Of course, nominally it was to comfort them, but the court’s intent was for Yuan Guowei to assess the actual situation after reaching Huaiyang Mountain and persuade Han Qian that if the situation looked unfavorable, he should have the determination to cut losses like a warrior severing his own arm, avoiding irreparable heavy losses to his main elite forces in Huaiyang Mountain.

From Shu Prefecture into Huaiyang Mountain, the straight-line distance to Wujin Ridge might only be two hundred li, but Yuan Guowei and Han Daochang, accompanied by over ten escorts, didn’t reach Shenjia Stockade to meet with Han Qian until the fifth day of the second month.

In just eight or nine days of travel, Han Daochang had become gaunt and haggard, nearly falling off slippery cliffs several times; yet Yuan Guowei, despite his age, was remarkably vigorous and energetic.

When they reached Shenjia Stockade, the Shouzhou army was just launching a new offensive, so they went directly north to Eagle Beak Cliff to meet with Han Qian.

Eagle Beak Cliff was located on the north side of Shenjia Stockade, a brown boulder jutting from a steep slope like an eagle’s beak, about three hundred paces from the outermost palisade. Walking up there, they could see in front of the battered palisade numerous destroyed war chariots and siege equipment, as well as dozens of corpses killed by swords and crossbows. Some bodies had been struck by stone projectiles hurled by torsion catapults, presenting an even more gruesome sight.

When Yuan Guowei and Han Daochang came to see Han Qian, passing through the stockade’s infirmary, they saw wounded soldiers with severed limbs everywhere, understanding that Tangyi’s forces had also suffered heavy casualties in holding this position.

Upon ascending Eagle Beak Cliff and looking north, they could see the Shouzhou army’s forward positions five hundred paces beyond the outer palisade, occupying two to three li of riverbed.

Thousands of soldiers and numerous torsion catapults stood behind crisscrossing trenches and protective walls—making it extremely difficult for Tangyi’s elite troops to mount a counterattack outside the palisade.

Beyond the forward positions to the north, the enemy camp below the precipitous slopes stretched for several li along the riverbed.

The enemy’s wave of assault had just been repelled, but new troops were already organizing, soon pressing forward with shield carts, scorpion catapults, and other siege equipment. They clearly intended to use rotating attacks to gradually wear down the Tangyi troops defending every inch of the pass, ultimately crushing their morale completely.

Yuan Guowei and Han Daochang stood beside Han Qian, observing the battle for over an hour, watching the Shouzhou army launch five charges of varying scales, with one even successfully breaking through the palisade breach torn open by torsion catapults.

Finally, the fierce general Han Donghu led armored elite troops forward to fight, managing to repel this wave of enemy soldiers.

In just over an hour, nearly a hundred Tangyi soldiers had died, causing Yuan Guowei to furrow his brow.

During this hour, Han Daochang intermittently recounted the situation changes in Jinling over the past ten days and Li Zhigao’s matter of going to Sui Prefecture to supervise the army.

In front of Yuan Guowei, Han Daochang wouldn’t explicitly mention that this involved a transaction between the Han family and Wanhong Tower, but he believed Han Qian could understand.

Han Qian stood with his hands in his sleeves, neither affirming nor denying Li Zhigao’s matter, or perhaps not wanting to speak too deeply in front of Yuan Guowei. Gazing at the clear sky to the north, he said, “The southeast wind started blowing yesterday. The weather seems to have changed…”

Yuan Guowei thought that even if the southeast wind was picking up and the weather inside and outside the mountains became warmer with river ice melting, it wouldn’t be a matter of ten days or half a month before the Tangyi navy could pose a fatal threat to the Shouzhou army from Chao Lake and force the northern Shouzhou army to withdraw. He lowered his voice and said:

“My lord, the Marquis of Xinjin may follow His Majesty’s decree and have the Left Wuwei Army advance into Huo Prefecture at the fastest speed, but the Left Wuwei Army cannot act alone on the western flank—several thousand elite troops pose little threat to the Shouzhou army. Xu Mingzhen should be able to tolerate the Left Wuwei Army entering the heartland of western Huo Prefecture. Even losing one or two cities wouldn’t matter. But the battle situation on your side doesn’t seem sustainable for much longer, does it?”

He and Han Daochang had crossed mountains and ridges, first meeting with Kong Xirong guarding the pass on the upper Dragon Pool River, then having Kong Xirong send people to escort them through the northeastern interior slopes of Huaiyang Mountain to reach Shenjia Stockade.

For two days of their journey, they had passed through stockades controlled by Tangyi troops, also learning about the latest situation in Huaiyang Mountain.

Besides rapidly occupying and capturing over forty stockades early on when the Shouzhou army was unprepared, subsequent expansion deeper into Huaiyang Mountain had stopped because the fierce fighting at Wujin Ridge required Han Qian to concentrate his main elite forces on the northern front.

Over the past twenty or thirty days, only seven or eight new stockades had come under control.

The recruitment of new soldiers had slowed significantly, far from offsetting attrition.

This was not only because stockade forces’ resistance had become more determined and it was harder to mobilize impoverished commoners and servants who feared death, but also because, besides intensifying frontal assaults from the river valley daily, Xu Mingzhen had also dispatched multiple small elite units to cross the outer mountain ridges and enter Huaiyang Mountain’s heartland to raid everywhere.

Yuan Guowei couldn’t say Han Qian’s strategy was wrong, but Xu Mingzhen was a renowned general of the era. Such determined fierce attacks meant he was resolute in not giving Han Qian time to deeply cultivate and manage Huaiyang Mountain’s heartland at any cost.

Of course, Han Daochang and Han Qian hadn’t spelled everything out in front of him, but Yuan Guowei, with his rich life experience and considerable insight, could guess at some things.

The Han family most likely wanted Li Zhigao to lead the Left Vermillion Bird Army directly north from Lujiang County to launch an offensive against Shouzhou army stockades on Chao Lake’s western shore. That way, besides the Tangyi navy being able to land on Chao Lake’s western shore, Han Qian could also deploy some elite troops along Dragon Pool River from west to east to attack enemy stockades on Chao Lake’s western shore, forming a three-pronged attack.

In that case, even if Han Qian abandoned Wujin Ridge, as long as they could drive the Shouzhou army back from Chao Lake’s western shore, they would open the passage from Chao Lake through Dragon Pool River into Huaiyang Mountain’s eastern slope, at least controlling the peaks and ridges of Huaiyang Mountain’s eastern slope to some degree.

However, this clearly wasn’t a situation Li Zhigao and Lu Qingxia were willing to see.

So the final agreement the Han family reached with them was merely that the Left Wuwei Army would head north from Wusheng Pass and Pingjing Pass between Huaiyang Mountain and Tongbai Mountain, tying down part of the Shouzhou army from western Huo Prefecture.

But this wouldn’t help the situation much in Huaiyang Mountain.

If he were Xu Mingzhen, he would rather temporarily abandon cities in western Huo Prefecture than drive Han Qian and Tangyi troops out of Huaiyang Mountain.

Currently, the Shouzhou army on Chao Lake’s western shore hadn’t assembled troops to attack upstream along Dragon Pool River. Besides guarding against the Left Vermillion Bird Army, they were probably employing the strategy of surrounding three sides while leaving one open, avoiding giving Han Qian the determination to defend Huaiyang Mountain’s heartland to the death, right?

Yuan Guowei pointed out these implications, hoping Han Qian would understand that not only Li Zhigao and Lu Qingxia, but His Majesty, the Empress Dowager, and most court ministers probably thought the same way.

Most people at this time didn’t want Tangyi’s elite troops to suffer irreparable heavy losses in Huaiyang Mountain, lest the Tangyi defensive line become unstable, but most also didn’t want to see Tangyi troops actually gain a firm foothold in Huaiyang Mountain.

In other words, even if the battle situation here improved, the attitude of the court and even Huaidong and Prince Shou’sMansion could very likely undergo subtle changes accordingly.

Regardless, Yuan Guowei felt Han Qian should make some decisive choices at this time.

These words from Yuan Guowei were what Han Daochang had come to Huaiyang Mountain through great hardship to tell Han Qian, but he hadn’t expected Yuan Guowei to speak first. He secretly felt that although Han Qian had made countless enemies in court and among the people, there were also those who treated him with genuine sincerity.

Han Daochang said nothing more at this point, just watching Han Qian, hoping he would make an early decision.

Tangyi’s situation was excellent, and Han Qian was so young—taking a step back would open vast horizons, with plenty of opportunities later. There was absolutely no need to expend Tangyi’s elite troops.

Han Qian slightly furrowed his brow, gazing at the distant sky, as if too many thoughts were churning in his chest. After a long while, he finally sighed softly and said:

“Yes, this battle cannot continue to be prolonged.”

Yuan Guowei and Han Daochang’s hearts eased, thinking Han Qian had been persuaded.

Han Qian then turned to Tian Cheng and others and said, “Lord Yuan and my second uncle have traversed mountain ridges to come here, extremely exhausted. Wang Jun and I will first accompany them back to the main camp. You all just follow the plan…”

Yuan Guowei assumed Han Qian had already prepared a withdrawal plan for the current unfavorable situation, and various matters would be handled by Tangyi military officers. As he had come on imperial orders to comfort the troops, it wasn’t appropriate to inquire too deeply, nor did he want to.

……

……

Yuan Guowei’s body could still barely hold up, but Han Daochang needed people to support him, otherwise even standing would be difficult. This trip had truly been extremely arduous.

Han Qian and Wang Jun first invited Yuan Guowei, Han Daochang, and their escorts back to the main camp headquarters. After a simple banquet, they arranged for them to rest.

Yuan Guowei was thoroughly exhausted. Arranged in a simple barracks, he wasn’t particular, and before dark he buried his head in sleep, sleeping until daylight the next day when his spirits finally recovered. Opening the door, he saw Han Daochang hurrying over, his complexion also better than yesterday.

Han Daochang rushed over and grabbed Yuan Guowei, saying, “Lord Yuan, let’s go see Han Qian.”

Seeing Han Daochang’s anxious expression, Yuan Guowei asked in surprise, “What happened?”

“I just woke up and was wandering around the camp when I saw garrison troops from numerous southern stockades continuously assembling here. Could Han Qian be thinking of breaking through to the north?” Han Daochang said.

“That can’t be, can it?” Yuan Guowei said doubtfully. “Shouldn’t he abandon Shenjia Stockade at this time, lead his troops to retreat upstream to Dragon Pool River to meet with Kong Xirong, then break through along Dragon Pool River toward Chao Lake’s western shore?”

“That’s what I think too. Now I’m afraid Han Qian has never suffered major losses to others before, and he wants to assemble troops on the northern riverbed to fight Xu Mingzhen to the death—but Xu Mingzhen is as famous as Li Yu, how could he not guard against him acting desperately like a cornered dog?” Han Daochang said. In his anxiety, his words became somewhat unguarded.

Yuan Guowei had thought last night that Han Qian would decide to withdraw troops, but now couldn’t figure out the situation and decided to first meet Han Qian with Han Daochang.

Along the way, they encountered Chen Zhiyong, Han Qian’s nephew-in-law who had accompanied him on the campaign into Huaiyang Mountain. Han Daochang saw his expression held an indescribable strangeness—seeming both shocked and excited, as if he knew something. He went forward and grabbed him, asking, “Zhiyong, do you know what Han Qian is really planning? Is he going to assemble troops to fight the Shouzhou army to the death?”

“Second Uncle doesn’t know yet?” Chen Zhiyong, after greeting Yuan Guowei, said to his second uncle Han Daochang, “Han Qian has decided to flood the Shouzhou army and is sending people to warn military and civilian residents along the upstream tributaries to avoid the flood!”

“Flood?” Yuan Guowei said. “The mountains had little rain in autumn and winter, the streams and rivers are shallow and dry, with no water to use. Besides, you haven’t built any dams in the mountains—what will you use to flood the enemy army?”

“I just ran into Feng Yi and asked him about this,” Chen Zhiyong was about to explain when he saw Feng Yi walking over leisurely with a grass stem in his mouth. He quickly called him over, saying, “Lord Yuan and my second uncle are asking how we’ll flood the Shouzhou army. You should explain.”

“Lord Yuan? Lord Daochang?” Feng Yi walked over arrogantly and cupped his hands, saying, “The northern rivers occasionally suffer ice flood disasters. Are you two lords aware of this?”

“The northern rivers do occasionally have ice floods, but I’ve never heard of ice flood disasters occurring between the Yangtze and Huai rivers,” Yuan Guowei said.

“This requires me to explain carefully to you two lords.”

Feng Yi spoke with an air of enjoying teaching others.

“Speaking of how ice floods form in northern rivers, it’s actually simple. Taking the Yellow River as an example, the river channel stretches thousands of li. After spring begins, the temperature difference between upstream and downstream areas is extremely large. If the downstream channel is still covered by ice while the upstream channel begins to thaw first, with water flowing under ice and upstream water rising, it breaks through the downstream ice layer. Large amounts of broken ice are then blocked by ice layers further downstream, forming ice jams and ice dams, which further intensify water level rises. Finally, they break through the embankments on both sides, causing great disaster. Between the Yangtze and Huai, ice floods never occur. On one hand, the Yangtze and major rivers south of it don’t freeze over. As for river channels north of the Yangtze, their watersheds aren’t extensive enough, and temperature differences within the watershed at any given time are minimal. Even for the Huai River, the ice layers upstream and downstream thin and melt almost synchronously after spring begins, naturally without worry of ice flood damage. However, the South Fei River at this time still hasn’t thawed. If we could artificially create a temperature difference between upstream and downstream, couldn’t we form an ice flood? Do you two lords know how much firewood the upstream stockades have accumulated for today, how many cellars they’ve dug? Moreover, since the night before last, nighttime temperatures have recovered to above zero degrees. This ensures Xu Mingzhen cannot escape this disaster!”

“Zero degrees?” Yuan Guowei, hearing this new term, asked uncomprehendingly.

“It means filling a basin of clear water and adding some ice chunks, having someone watch constantly—if ice chunks increase, it’s below zero degrees; if ice chunks melt, it’s above zero degrees. Han Qian also said he wanted to make a thermometer but couldn’t manage it, throwing a pile of messy diagrams to the Engineering Academy,” Feng Yi said.

Yuan Guowei thought Han Qian’s method of measuring hot and cold by ice water melting was extremely ingenious, particularly suitable for current circumstances, but he still had many questions and asked:

“Autumn and winter had no rain, streams and rivers are shallow and dry. All along my journey, I didn’t see you building dams in the streams and rivers ahead of time. Even if you could accelerate melting all the river ice over a hundred li upstream in one night, it wouldn’t be enough to form water force capable of destroying the Shouzhou army’s riverbed camp!”

The riverbed north of Shenjia Stockade was two to three li wide. If they couldn’t accumulate sufficient water volume and water level beforehand, how much impact could they create?

Moreover, the enemy camp had also used palisade logs and earthen walls to build certain protective structures along the river channel’s outer perimeter, clearly prepared in advance for the rainy season when South Fei River’s water force would surge. For them to impact the enemy camp now, they would need even greater water force.

“When we entered the mountains, it was actually when South Fei River’s water volume was smallest. Breaking open the ice layer, there was almost no flow beneath the ice. But that was also the easiest time to manipulate things. We only needed to break open the ice and expose the shallow water beneath to severe cold, and it would freeze layer by layer, forming ice dams.”

Feng Yi said.

“To build visible dams, even if Xu Mingzhen were stupid, he would be on guard. But if you look at the river channel before and after Shenjia Stockade now, there appears to be nothing abnormal. Actually, beneath the ice layer, several hidden dams have already formed. Below the hidden dams, beneath the ice layer, the flow has already stopped, making people think this winter in the mountains really did have little rainfall. But actually, all the water has been blocked beneath the ice layer upstream, and moreover, there are several hidden ice dams along the way blocking water layer by layer. This way, each layer of ice dam blocking water only slightly raises the river channel’s ice cover. Otherwise, the ice cover on the river channel near Shenjia Stockade would have long been burst open by the overflowing water. If all the water stored in the entire upstream tributary channels could have all the hidden dams along with the ice covers on the water surface broken layer by layer before dawn tomorrow, it would be enough to raise the water level below Shenjia Stockade by five or six chi—this has been calculated. Below Shenjia Stockade, there are two rows of palisade logs driven directly into the river channel. The Shouzhou army might think they’re to restrict them from attacking upward on the river ice, but actually they’re prepared for this moment, so they can intercept the broken ice rushing up from upstream, forming even larger-scale ice jams and ice dams. How much pressure these two rows of palisade logs can bear for ice dams has also been calculated. As for how it was calculated, you’d have to ask Han Qian…”

“…” Yuan Guowei’s mouth opened slightly, unable to speak for a long time. He hadn’t expected that when Han Qian said yesterday the battle couldn’t be delayed, he meant this.

“All this was planned from the beginning?” Han Daochang hadn’t expected such an utterly unexpected development and grabbed Feng Yi excitedly to ask.

“Of course. If the Shouzhou army couldn’t intercept us before Anfeng Stockade fell, which step could they have taken to seize the initiative?” Feng Yi said arrogantly, as if all this had been his own strategy.

“The Marquis of Qianyang’s stratagems are truly unfathomable by gods or ghosts. It made us worry needlessly for so long,” Yuan Guowei said with a sigh.

Han Daochang excitedly asked Feng Yi and Chen Zhiyong to accompany them to find Han Qian. Along the way, they saw elite troops transferred from Huaiyang Mountain’s heartland mainly assembling toward gaps on both flanks of Wujin Ridge. Obviously, after using water force to destroy the enemy camp, the frontal assault route from Shenjia Stockade would also be washed into complete chaos by the flood. To pursue the routed enemy and expand their gains, they could only strike out from the steeper ridge paths on both flanks…