Luoshan City was modest in scale, with four main streets and twenty-six alleys. The county office doubled as Wen Bo’s military headquarters, located at the city’s center. When Zhang Qian entered the city with Guo Rong and the others, they could see convoy after convoy loaded with heavy supplies entering the county office from the east.
Witnessing this scene, Zhang Qian felt secretly alarmed. He glanced at Guo Rong and asked tentatively, “The Marquis of Qianyang truly has such confidence in the Wen family?”
He had not expected that before everything was settled, Han Qian would directly transport large quantities of supplies into Luoshan City. He wondered—wasn’t Han Qian afraid that Wen Bo might renege after receiving these substantial resources?
“Luoshan has been besieged for months, provisions nearly exhausted, soldiers and civilians barely clinging to life. If we want them to serve Great Chu, especially to change their thinking in such a short time and have everyone compete to pledge loyalty to Great Chu, how can this be accomplished without bestowing favors and continuing to oppress them, causing resentment to fester?” Guo Rong said. “Moreover, Tangyi has shown the utmost benevolence and righteousness, doing everything possible to demonstrate such goodwill. If General Wen were to reverse course now, he would only become the target of universal condemnation…”
Zhang Qian thought this over and felt reassured. If Wen Bo truly reneged, Han Qian could then take harsh measures against the Wen clan members detained in Tangyi without anyone calling Han Qian ruthless and merciless.
Wen Bo stood before the county office with Cao Ba, Xue Chuan, and other officers to welcome Zhang Qian’s arrival. Inside the hall, an extremely simple banquet had been set out. Seeing that Wen Bo and his officers all wore patched robes with even straw stuffing showing through, one could tell how severely depleted resources had become in Luoshan City after more than half a year of siege.
Zhang Qian had met Wen Bo and his son when accompanying Shen Yang during the Dragon Sparrow Army’s early days. At that time, Wen Bo still had the refined bearing of a scholarly general. In his thirties, serving in Great Chu as a high-ranking Regional Commander, everyone believed he would succeed his father as Vice Chief Military Commissioner, perhaps even Chief Military Commissioner. Who could have imagined that seven years later, now over forty, Wen Bo would have a full beard covering his face, his appearance becoming much more weathered and rugged.
Of course, who could have predicted that the world would descend into such chaos over these six or seven years?
When Wen Bo and his officers met with Zhang Qian, there was not much to say beyond expressing regret for being coerced by the Anning Palace and the Xu clan into acting as their accomplices, and earnestly conveying their desire to return to Great Chu and pledge loyalty to the court.
Perhaps Wen Bo himself could perform and disguise his true feelings, concealing his inner thoughts, but many of the military officers under his command openly displayed emotions of resentment and dissatisfaction with the Shouzhou Army’s repeated defeats in recent years and concerns about Liang’s bleak prospects. Zhang Qian could believe that the Luoshan garrison’s desire to return to Great Chu was not feigned. The real obstacle perhaps was fear that after accepting surrender, they might one day face retribution.
Observing all this, after the evening banquet Zhang Qian felt somewhat reassured and went to rest. However, Wen Bo, Wen Zhanyu, Guo Rong, and others worked tirelessly through the night to inventory the supplies transported from the eastern camp into the city, distributing them to each battalion as quickly as possible.
Even though Wen Bo’s forces defended Luoshan and had maximally strengthened the city’s defenses while stockpiling large quantities of supplies, after more than fifteen thousand soldiers and over twenty thousand civilians in the city were besieged for half a year, resources were nearly exhausted.
Wen Bo had prepared early for a prolonged siege. From the beginning of the encirclement, he strictly controlled grain rations for soldiers and civilians. Over half a year, he kept daily rations for garrison soldiers below eight ounces, with civilian rations even lower—barely enough to prevent starvation.
After such prolonged semi-starvation, most soldiers and civilians were reduced to skin and bones, severely malnourished.
Therefore, the first emergency shipment Han Qian sent included over ten thousand padded garments, hundreds of thousands of catties of grain, tens of thousands of catties of dried meat, over ten thousand catties of cane sugar, over thirty thousand catties of cooking oil, and over ten thousand catties of salt. This was to help the Luoshan garrison recover their strength as much as possible, while also allowing Wen Bo to correspondingly increase civilian rations and avoid severe famine deaths.
Of course, the first shipment of supplies to the city also included three thousand sets of armor, among them the most elite five hundred-plus sets of lamellar and scale armor, plus one thousand crossbows and sixty mounted crossbows.
Although Han Qian did not explicitly make additional demands, Guo Rong would next discuss some necessary disposal measures that Wen Bo and his officers could accept without arousing others’ suspicion.
When Tangyi forces recovered Huailing, Linhuai, and ten other counties, they absorbed over ninety thousand households totaling over five hundred thousand people. Among these were over five thousand households—military households from the old Left Militant Guard Army who had been coerced by the Anning Palace years ago to cross the Yangtze and were resettled in places like Huailing and Linhuai. These were the families and dependents of soldiers in the old Left Militant Guard Army that Wen Bo commanded.
Considering the continuous warfare over these years, casualties among Wen Bo’s old Militant Guard Army soldiers were certainly substantial. Han Qian estimated that among these six thousand-plus northern-migrated old Militant Guard military households, nearly three thousand soldiers should still be serving under Wen Bo.
This time Guo Rong entered the city for secret talks with Wen Bo, carrying the corresponding roster of military households. Han Qian required Wen Bo to separately assign these approximately three thousand soldiers into a special unit.
For this unit, Wen Bo could designate officers to serve as Battalion Commander and Camp Commandant, but seemingly unimportant support positions like Military Adjutant needed to accept officials appointed by Tangyi. The fact that their families had been absorbed and resettled by Tangyi also needed to be publicly disclosed to these soldiers.
In these chaotic times, ordinary soldiers as the lowest class were like duckweed drifting with the current, often unable to attend to where their families had ended up. But for those soldiers who clearly knew their families had been resettled by Tangyi, they could still form relatively stable commitment and cohesion.
Beyond this, after Wen Bo’s forces left Luoshan City, the city would be taken over by the Xiangbei Army, but the over twenty thousand civilians inside would be transferred to Tangyi forces for resettlement east of the Gushui River.
On Han Qian’s behalf, Guo Rong also required Wen Bo to independently organize the over two thousand able-bodied men previously conscripted locally to strengthen city defenses into a separate unit.
Before the court formally decided to accept the Luoshan garrison’s surrender and have them follow the Left Militant Cavalry Army to attack Guanzhong would require some time. During this period, Han Qian required Wen Bo to prepare for the long-distance campaign…
…
…
Zhang Qian stayed in Luoshan City for two days. Under Wen Bo’s arrangements, he met with garrison officers at the Camp Commandant level and toured the barracks in the city. After generally understanding the garrison’s situation, he left the city to meet with Li Zhigao, then rushed to Anfeng at full speed. From there he traveled by boat via Chao Lake, Yuxi River, and the Yangtze River eastward, reaching Jinling in nine days to report to Shen Yang and other senior ministers about his surrender mission over these ten-plus days.
At approximately the same time, news that Li Xiu’s forces had successfully captured Wuguan also galloped back to Jinling.
Capturing Wuguan opened the passage into Guanzhong, but only by taking Yaoguan southeast of Lantian County could they truly open the gateway to the Yongzhou heartland.
Currently Li Xiu and Zhang Feng were leading their forces north along the Shangluo Road (Wuguan Road), but from Wuguan to Yao Mountain in the northern foothills of the Qinling Mountains where Yaoguan was located was still nearly three hundred li of winding mountain post roads.
Huang Lu, Li Xiu, Zhang Feng, and other commanders were not worried about Guanzhong Liang forces having much strength to prevent them from taking Yaoguan while besieged on four sides. The problem was that after capturing Yaoguan and opening the gateway to the Guanzhong heartland, if Chu forces wanted to claim as much of the spoils as possible, they appeared somewhat lacking in troops compared to Shu forces and the Mongol cavalry and Wei Province rebels to the north.
Even if Guanzhong Liang forces were ultimately defeated, it would be difficult for them to seize Yongzhou City, the former dynasty’s capital, from the numerically superior Shu forces and Mongols, let alone control the entire Weishui Plain.
Therefore, Huang Lu, Li Xiu, Zhang Feng, and other commanders sent urgent memorials to the court, proposing two suggestions.
The first was to recommend the court deploy more troops to the Yaoguan front. After capturing Yaoguan, they would have greater strength to participate in dividing Guanzhong territory.
If unable to send more troops, relying mainly on the Left Militant Cavalry Army alone, they advocated temporarily halting further military action into the Yongzhou heartland after capturing Yaoguan. Instead, they would defend Yaoguan—this gateway pass for direct military action into the Yongzhou heartland—and occupy Shangluo and Shangluo counties between Yaoguan and Wuguan to observe subsequent developments, rather than hastily entering the Guanzhong heartland.
When court officials initially decided to respond to Shu’s proposal by sending troops to attack Wuguan, they had not expected to participate in dividing the Weishui Plain.
Regardless, even if Great Chu could initially claim several counties in the Weishui Plain for separate occupation, the investment would far exceed the returns.
Moreover, with isolated forces hanging north of the Qinling Mountains, if Shu forces and the Mongols suddenly changed course, defending the flatlands north of Yaoguan would be extremely difficult. Any carelessness could result in total annihilation.
What court officials most anticipated was capturing Yaoguan and controlling the narrow passage between Guanzhong and Xiangbei. But the real opportunity they saw was in the Central Plains—in the more vast lands between the Yellow River and Huai River.
In dismembering Guanzhong Liang forces, Great Chu’s strategic focus should also be concentrating elite troops to cross the Huai River northward, seizing Cai, Ru, Ying, Qiao, Shang, Song, Xu, Si, Qing, Mi and other provinces, even hoping that during the Mongols’ digestion of Hedong and Heshuo regions, Chu forces could advance directly to the Yellow River banks.
Of course, court officials recognized from the initial decision-making that the Luoshan garrison was a major obstacle.
As Han Qian stated in his memorial, Luoshan—a tiny speck of land with over ten thousand weak troops—nevertheless tied down one hundred ten to twenty thousand elite troops from the Xiangbei and Tangyi main forces, preventing them from crossing the Huai River northward. At this critical moment, this was undoubtedly an enormous waste, even possibly causing Chu forces to miss the best opportunity since the dynasty’s founding to advance into the Central Plains.
Han Qian’s proposal that Xiangbei forces resolve the Luoshan garrison problem within one month was harsh for Xiangbei forces, but for the overall strategic situation, when multiple forces routed Guanzhong Liang forces, only if Xiangbei, Tangyi, and Huaidong forces could prepare for the northern advance in time would this truly serve Great Chu’s interests.
Even if Xiangbei forces suffered heavy casualties in storming Luoshan, this was still better than missing the opportunity to attack Cai, Ru, Shang, Ying, Qiao, Song and other provinces when Liang forces completely collapsed.
Zhang Qian’s return undoubtedly brought an exciting solution that could resolve current contradictions optimally.
The Cishou Palace, even with the Empress Dowager’s backing, found its opposing voice insignificant at this time.
After the memorial was made public and officials debated for three days, on the thirteenth Emperor Yanyou formally issued an edict incorporating the Luoshan garrison as the Right Divine Martial Army—effectively reviving the Right Divine Martial Army banner—appointing Wen Bo, Xue Chuan, Cao Ba, and others as Regional Commander and Vice Regional Commanders of the Right Divine Martial Army. Simultaneously, the Ministry of War was ordered to re-incorporate the families of old Left Militant Guard Army military households into garrison military prefecture households.
When Anning Palace rebel forces fled north across the river, they abandoned the families and dependents of large numbers of ordinary soldiers on the south bank of the Yangtze.
During Emperor Tianyou’s era, apart from the Imperial Guard Army, the families of Forbidden Army soldiers belonged to garrison military prefectures distributed on a large scale in provinces and counties outside the capital region. Military households of armies like the Left and Right Dragon Sparrow Armies and Left and Right Divine Martial Armies were mainly settled in places like Tan Province and Jun Province.
During the Jinling Incident, large numbers of Forbidden Army soldiers had no choice but to follow their commanders and become forced rebels, but their families remaining on the south bank of the Yangtze were all demoted to official slaves of provincial and county government offices after Emperor Yanyou’s ascension.
With Wen Bo’s forces accepting surrender, the status of old Left Militant Guard Army families remaining on the south bank naturally needed re-clarification. This would also affect the court’s future influence and penetration of the newly formed Right Divine Martial Army.
The edict also required the newly formed Right Divine Martial Army, upon receiving orders, to immediately head south through Jiuli Pass under Xiangbei Army supervision, pass through Sui Province territory, then follow the Han River and Dan River to Wuguan to accept the command of Marquis of Jiangyin Huang Lu and enter Yaoguan.
As for Han Qian’s memorial suggesting Wen Bo’s forces rush to occupy Yongzhou City ahead of the Mongols after joining the Left Militant Cavalry Army, court officials ignored this.
Beyond Guanzhong’s small territory, it connected to the Yangtze-Huai heartland only through the narrow Wuguan Road. Rather than competing with Shu forces and Mongols for cities in confined Guanzhong, it was far better to place strategic focus on the Central Plains Yellow River-Huai region, which connected more closely with the Yangtze-Huai and served as mutual support.
…
…
On the seventeenth, Zhang Qian accompanied Ministry of War Vice Minister and Marquis of Linjin Li Changfeng and Chongwen Palace Internal Attendant Chen Ruyi in bringing the imperial edict to Luoshan for its proclamation.
Besides Wen Bo leading the newly formed Right Divine Martial Army to mobilize as quickly as possible for the western advance, the disposition of Luoshan City largely followed the previous compromise between Xiangbei and Tangyi forces.
The over twenty-two thousand civilians in the city, including some wounded and sick soldiers, would all be transferred to Tangyi forces for resettlement east of the Gushui River. Huangchuan and Le’an counties were assigned to Huo Province.
Luoshan, Yiyang, Tongbai, and Qisi—currently still occupied by Shouzhou forces—were assigned to Guang Province, with the new provincial seat established at Yiyang City.
The upper Gushui River valley region was separated from Luoshan County and incorporated into Le’an County.
The edict simultaneously ordered Xiangbei forces to immediately attack Qisi City, occupied by Shouzhou forces on the upper Huai River. They must capture Qisi City before western route forces and Shu forces opened the gateway into the Guanzhong heartland, opening the passage for northern campaigns to occupy Cai and Ru provinces, with no further delays permitted.
Additionally, three thousand military horses each would be requisitioned from Tangyi and Xiangbei forces to enhance the Right Divine Martial Army’s long-distance marching capability.
Without sufficient military horses and other draft animals to transport baggage and wounded, a force of about twelve thousand men traveling post roads at a normal pace of thirty li per day was standard.
This meant the newly formed Right Divine Martial Army would need about twenty days to enter Jun Province territory. After entering Jun Province, following the Dan River into the depths of the Qinling Mountains through Jingzi Pass and Wuguan to the Yaoguan front would require another twenty days of marching.
That would be late January of the following year.
Such a pace clearly could not satisfy requirements.
To accelerate the march, large numbers of mules, horses, and other draft animals were indispensable.
The Luoshan garrison previously had two to three thousand military horses, but after being besieged, to conserve the enormous consumption of horse feed, except for over three hundred warhorses, all other military horses were slaughtered and stored as military provisions.
Now, if six thousand military horses could be incorporated, the Right Divine Martial Army’s marching speed could roughly double.
Tangyi forces might provide three thousand military horses without too much difficulty, but Xiangbei forces, despite trying every method to procure them over the past two years, had only eight to nine thousand military horses total. Taking three thousand horses—over one-third—all at once was quite burdensome.
Even though the court agreed to compensate Tangyi and Xiangbei forces at twelve strings of cash per military horse, areas near Xiangbei like Huangjing were extremely short of draft animals. To purchase military horses from more distant places like Jiangdong or Nanzhao, they lacked sufficient transportation capacity. If relying only on scattered livestock traders, it might take two to three years to fill this gap.
However, regardless, matters had progressed to this point. Even Ministry of War Vice Minister Li Changfeng, who sided with Xiangbei forces, absolutely could not let things get stuck on such minor details.
Ultimately, within the eighteenth and nineteenth, Li Zhigao delivered all three thousand military horses as required, enabling the newly formed Right Divine Martial Army to embark on the western campaign as scheduled on the twentieth.
Besides ordering garrisons along the route to strengthen defenses, Li Zhigao also commanded subordinate officer Chen Xiong to lead three thousand cavalry and infantry to monitor the Right Divine Martial Army’s movements along the way.
Also on the twentieth, Su Lie escorted over twenty thousand Luoshan civilians as they filed out of Luoshan City, beginning their eastward migration to Le’an, Huangchuan, Xinjing, and other counties. On the twenty-second, he transferred Luoshan City to Xiangbei forces for garrison and administration.
Perhaps stimulated by twice enduring prolonged sieges without favorable outcomes, after Tangyi forces completely withdrew east of the Gushui River on the twenty-second and handed over Luoshan City, Li Zhigao led his forces to attack Qisi City at the Gushui River’s entrance to the Huai River.
From the start, the assault was exceptionally fierce.
Whirlwind catapults advanced to Qisi City walls, mainly using scattered stone projectiles to suppress defenders. Both fierce commanders Li Qi and Zhong Yanhu personally rushed to the city walls to supervise the battle, even personally leading elite troops in repeated direct assaults on the walls.
Perhaps Qisi was not a key defensive point for Shouzhou forces, with only five thousand garrison troops stationed there who could not be considered strong or well-equipped. Or perhaps Wen Bo’s forces’ surrender had severely damaged Qisi garrison morale and fighting spirit. Or under Ministry of War Vice Minister Li Changfeng’s supervision, or because the Right Divine Martial Army—this duck about to be eaten—had flown away, leaving Xiangbei forces harboring pent-up anger, they attacked Qisi with exceptional ferocity. Ultimately, at the cost of two thousand casualties, from deploying siege equipment to capturing Qisi City and forcing over three thousand remnant defenders to flee into the river entrance took only four days.
For Xiangbei forces, capturing Qisi City and crossing the Huai River with vanguard troops into southern Cai Province established contact with Fangcheng garrison forces on the other side of Tongbai Mountain in northern Nanyang (Deng Province).
This also meant Li Zhigao could concentrate elite forces at any time to systematically capture Cai Province counties, then expand military operations northward and eastward.
However, on January third, Li Zhigao, who had led his forces into Qisi City for rest, and Li Changfeng, who planned to return to Jinling shortly, suddenly received intelligence that the newly formed Right Divine Martial Army had lingered below Canglang City for over three days with no intention of continuing upstream along the Dan River to Jingzi Pass.
Canglang City was the old seat of Jun Province, destroyed by war in the middle period of the previous dynasty.
During the Jing-Xiang campaign, Han Qian had mobilized resources to rebuild Canglang City at the northeastern junction of the Dan and Han Rivers. During the early Jing-Xiang campaign, it played a crucial role in preventing Liang forces from fully controlling the Dan River banks.
Because Liang forces failed to timely control the Dan River banks, the later Defense of Xichuan City became possible.
Although Canglang City was located at the Han-Dan junction, when initially rebuilt the city was quite small. Since Xichuan City could better coordinate defense of both Jingzi Pass and Wuguan, when Jun Province was re-established, the provincial seat was set at Xichuan.
Whether the previous Zheng Hui or the later Chai Jian, both established headquarters at Xichuan, which could coordinate two-front defense. Canglang City’s development over the past seven or eight years had been relatively slow. Currently it had only added a rammed earth wall encircling several earlier small forts, expanding the city to six hundred paces square.
Because Jun Province’s newly established population remained extremely low, plus garrison fortresses on the south bank had developed longer, Canglang City, despite occupying water and land advantages, was currently just an inconspicuous small city between Deng and Jun.
Wen Bo suddenly leading the newly formed Right Divine Martial Army to stop below Canglang City was anything but a trivial matter at such a sensitive time!
Besides ordering Chai Jian to immediately lead troops toward Canglang City, Li Changfeng dared not delay a moment. Furiously, he brought Yao Xishui, Xu Jing, and Chongwen Palace Internal Attendant Chen Ruyi, who had not yet begun the return journey, riding through the night across the Gushui and Huang Rivers to Huangchuan City, urgently seeking audience with Han Qian, who remained in Huangchuan planning to personally command western wing Tangyi forces in attacking Huoqiu.
“Marquis of Qianyang, what exactly do you intend? What sinister motives are you harboring?”
The newly formed Right Divine Martial Army’s twelve thousand elite troops suddenly stopping below Canglang City—how could this not cause alarm? During the journey, Li Changfeng, Yao Xishui, Xu Jing, and Chen Ruyi had agreed to have Xu Jing play the harsh role. Upon meeting Han Qian, he aggressively demanded, “Where did we leave off with this matter?”
“The Right Divine Martial Army is advancing westward under close Xiangbei elite supervision. Canglang City is also garrisoned by troops dispatched by the Xiangbei Regional Defense Command. Is the current situation that Wen Bo has suddenly led forces to attack Canglang City, or what? I know nothing of this. Minister Xu now aggressively questions this Marquis—I must ask Minister Xu whether you have been inconsistent and fickle, angering Wen Bo and provoking the Right Divine Martial Army soldiers, causing this matter to become turbulent again?” Han Qian sat behind the long table in the center of the hall, coldly staring at Xu Jing as he questioned back.
“The Wen clan members are all under your control. Does Your Lordship truly believe a few light words can really distance yourself from this matter and claim no connection?” Yao Xishui demanded sternly, unable to restrain herself.
“I won’t stoop to your level,” Han Qian glanced contemptuously at Yao Xishui, then asked Li Changfeng, “What exactly is the current situation? Has Wen Bo suddenly led forces to capture Canglang City, or what?”
Yao Xishui was so angry she could spit blood, but in terms of status, only Li Changfeng could compare with Han Qian at this time. Even though Chen Ruyi was Emperor Yanyou’s special envoy, Han Qian wouldn’t even give her a proper glance. What could they do to him?
“Wen Bo has not yet shown signs of rashly attacking Canglang City, but his front and rear units have blocked the land routes in and out of Canglang. We truly don’t know what he intends,” Li Changfeng said with a dark expression.
“Not to mention Wen Bo hasn’t captured Canglang City—even if he did capture it, with Canglang’s grain stores, it would probably only sustain his twelve thousand elite troops for about ten days. I don’t think Wen Bo harbors any treacherous intentions. Could there be some misunderstanding?” Han Qian asked with furrowed brows. “Or did the court deploy the Left Militant Cavalry Army to attack Wuguan and restart using Canglang City as a grain storage base with large stockpiles? I haven’t heard of this!”
“No, that didn’t happen. Grain for Wuguan is still shipped directly from Xiangcheng via the Dan River to Jingzi Pass for delivery, with no transfer through Canglang City,” Li Changfeng said.
When they received the intelligence, they were both shocked and suspicious. The biggest question was that Canglang had no large grain reserves, and the city only had five to six hundred civilian households. If Wen Bo and Han Qian truly conspired against Xiangbei forces, they should have launched a surprise attack on the major towns of Xiangcheng or Xichuan under careful arrangements, not inexplicably stopped below Canglang City.
The newly formed Right Divine Martial Army temporarily stopped below Canglang City without showing direct signs of attacking. Even if they seized Canglang City, they would quickly be surrounded by Xiangbei elite forces converging from both sides with superior numbers and combat strength, running out of grain in about ten days.
Of course, Wen Bo could slaughter military horses for provisions, but it was already January. In another month or so the weather would warm, making slaughtered horse meat difficult to store.
Even with five to six thousand military horses then—impossible to supply over one hundred ten to twenty thousand catties of daily horse feed, such enormous numbers of horses would all need immediate slaughter—this would at most let Wen Bo’s forces hold Canglang City for two or three more months before facing certain death.
They could not imagine why Wen Bo suddenly stopped at Canglang City, naturally assuming the problem originated with Tangyi forces and Han Qian. They wondered what secret conspiracy Han Qian and Wen Bo had reached that they did not know about.