Heavy snow fell in flurries. Over a thousand cavalrymen, all wearing scale armor beneath dark blue-black cloaks, galloped on horseback like surging waves of silver-red, departing from Liyang city’s north gate on the afternoon of the fifth day of the first month at the start of the new year. They passed through newly opened mountain paths in the western section of Qingcang Mountain, winding northward toward the plains.
Everyone knew that Han Qian usually handled official business within Liyang city. After Zhao Wuji concurrently assumed the position of Chaozhou Inspector, the main force of guard cavalry under Han Donghu as Capital Commandant also stationed with Han Qian in Liyang city.
Even after the Shu state submitted as a vassal to Great Chu, western tributary warhorses imported to western Huai were no longer restricted as before. However, various regional armies urgently needed to newly organize independent cavalry battalions, so the guard cavalry still maintained an elite cavalry organization of over two thousand four hundred men.
A thousand-scale guard cavalry departing the city meant either Han Qian was traveling far, or something major had occurred in the north requiring the guard cavalry to rush reinforcements immediately.
Liyang city had been preserved initially as grounds for Liyang Academy, after which the Commissioner’s Office headquarters and the dependents and families of various officials gradually moved to settle within Liyang city.
Liyang city’s residential population was still not particularly homogeneous, but with such major movements in the city just after the festival passed, it meant people’s hearts were unsettled, wondering what new chaos had erupted in these turbulent times of war and upheaval.
Although Liyang was separated from Jinling by only a river, Liyang city’s residents were much more sensitive to changes in current affairs and world trends.
Wen Bo returned to his residence from Lian Garden in the afternoon with two household soldiers. Without even sending someone to notify them, Xue Chuan, Cao Ba, his nephew Wen Yuan, and his elder brother Wen Zhanyu all came rushing over upon hearing the news.
After the Wen clan’s submission, besides abolishing slave status, Han Qian’s most basic requirement was clan and property division.
The so-called clan and property division meant dismantling the traditional clan structure—where the clan head or family patriarch served as the great family head managing clan property and affairs—into individual independent families with equally divided clan property, essentially abolishing the old system of great family heads and primogeniture inheritance.
Now Wen Bo and his brother Wen Zhanyu were counted as two households. Xue Chuan and Cao Ba had even more independently established their own households. Yet the power of tradition and habit remained strong—whenever anything happened, Xue Chuan, Cao Ba and others would still first rush to Wen Bo’s residence to discuss matters. Han Qian would not forcibly prohibit this situation in unreasonable ways.
“What on earth happened? Right during the new year—why suddenly mobilize such a large scale of guard cavalry?” Just past thirty, Cao Ba was more restless than Wen Yuan and Xue Chuan. Pushing open the door and seeing Wen Bo in the courtyard, he called out loudly.
Both Xue Chuan and Cao Ba were descendants of Wen family household soldiers. Following Wen Muqiao and Wen Bo in military service, they had established merit and once risen to high positions at the Capital Commandant level.
After Luoshan garrison forces surrendered to Tang Yi, they were first organized as the Right Divine Martial Army. But after returning to Tang Yi from Liangzhou, the Right Divine Martial Army’s soldiers were temporarily disbanded and sent home to reunite with their families, while junior officers all attended designated middle-level academies for literacy and basic military knowledge training. Battalion commanders and above—mid to high-ranking officers—assembled at Liyang Academy’s Military College for training.
Besides Wen Bo directly serving as the Commissioner’s Office’s Army Administrator concurrently leading the Military College’s Vice Dean and Military Intelligence Bureau Vice Commissioner, Wen Yuan, Xue Chuan, Cao Ba and others inevitably were all stuffed into the Military College to receive strict cultural and military knowledge training.
Wen Yuan and Xue Chuan were somewhat better off. Cao Ba’s literacy was limited—he could barely read extremely simple correspondence. Suddenly requiring him to undergo high-intensity cultural curriculum learning, he had long accumulated a bellyful of resentment, constantly complaining that the Commissioner’s Office was deliberately stripping them of military authority.
Despite Wen Muqiao and Wen Bo’s repeated scoldings, they still could not suppress Cao Ba’s foul temper, leaving them somewhat worried that Cao Ba would bring disaster from his mouth.
“You all came just in time. You will graduate from the Military College immediately, and after the new year you won’t need to continue training at the Military College. As attendant military officers, you will all follow me to Shouspring!” As Wen Bo spoke, he also called over the few servants and household soldiers not frequently employed at home, took out a name list, and had them notify people according to the list. Everyone on the list had to complete assembly before dark, then depart for Shouspring.
This name list, including Cao Ba, Xue Chuan, and Wen Yuan, consisted of Right Divine Martial Army’s currently considered promising mid to high-ranking officers still continuing training at the Military College—from battalion commanders to capital commandants at two levels, totaling over eighty people.
Of course, those summoned as attendant military officers this time also included one hundred mid to high-ranking officers selected from Tianping Command and other units for Military College training.
Besides this, Han Qian had just signed military orders to summon about five hundred junior officers receiving training in various places. Together with the mid to high-ranking training officers, they would form an attendant military officer cavalry unit, required to report and assemble at Shouspring in the fastest time possible.
This happened during the festival. Never mind the junior officers mainly receiving training near their home locations—even the Military College had most students who, because their families were not in Liyang, had requested leave to reunite with family.
However, the Right Divine Martial Army officers’ families mainly settled in Liyang and East Lake after surrendering, making assembly most convenient.
“What happened?”
As household soldiers led horses out to notify others, Wen Muqiao—who had been resting at home or traveling through mountains and waters without concerning himself with worldly affairs since submitting to Tang Yi—could not help but ask.
Regardless of whether it was called a specially organized attendant military officer cavalry unit or another name, Han Qian’s emergency summoning of so many mid to high-ranking and junior officers currently in training meant he extremely likely intended to conduct large-scale troop expansion at Shouspring, rather than transferring personnel from existing forces for some matter.
Further expansion of western Huai’s military scale obviously meant something had occurred—otherwise why would Han Qian need to act in ways that startled the grass and alerted the snake while wastefully consuming money and grain?
Wen Muqiao did not know what reason there could be, given the peaceful and harmonious conditions before the year’s end, for Han Qian to suddenly decide on military expansion at this time, disrupting everyone’s new year celebrations.
Regarding Weizhou rebel forces breaching embankments and releasing waters at Yingyang, Han Qian had not required strict secrecy. Wen Bo spoke directly, only instructing family members and Cao Ba and Xue Chuan not to speak carelessly outside.
“Liang Shixiong breaching embankments and releasing waters should be to block Liang army attacks on Yingyang, ensuring the eastern gateway to Heluo remains secure. Emperor Liang Zhu Yu has to worry about this himself—does Tang Yi need such a big reaction?” Wen Zhanyu asked puzzledly.
Previously, when they followed Xu Mingzhen in pledging allegiance to the Liang state, it was mainly out of thoughts of clinging to strong branches. But they had no special feelings toward the Liang state or Emperor Liang Zhu Yu. Addressing him directly by name now presented no obstacles.
However, in their minds, Emperor Liang Zhu Yu was absolutely a strong-level existence in the contemporary world. They did not believe that without Mongol assistance, Liang Shixiong would be Zhu Yu’s match.
They were also extremely clear in their hearts that currently the He-Huai western flank battle line had critically important influence on the future Central Plains war situation. If Zhu Yu could first recover Heluo, it would open communications with Guanzhong. But whether Liang Shixiong could, with Mongol help, drag things out until Wang Yuankui and Tian Weiye first captured Yongzhou and Huazhou—the Central Plains situation would become even more dire.
In Wen Zhanyu’s view, Liang Shixiong breaching embankments and releasing waters at Yingyang was a tactical action by defending forces, like how Han Qian had secretly built ice dams at Wujin Ridge years ago to ultimately breach and flood Shouzhou forces.
Even if Zhu Yu’s side could detect this situation in advance, it would subsequently very likely cause great trouble for Liang army attacks on Yingyang city, probably slowing the Liang army’s attack pace on Heluo and making Guanzhong’s situation increasingly besieged. But in Wen Zhanyu’s view, Han Qian should have anticipated this situation.
Even without Mongol assistance, Liang Shixiong was still a famous Liang general—how could he not have some means?
“Someone is making a big fuss over nothing—is that certain person exaggerating?” Cao Ba said with pursed lips.
Although these years he had suffered greatly at Tang Yi forces’ hands, the feeling was nothing compared to the torture of being sent to the Military College. Given any opportunity, Cao Ba could not help mocking sarcastically. Wen Bo was extremely helpless about this.
“Does the Marquis feel there is something unusual about this matter?” Wen Muqiao asked with furrowed brows.
“The Marquis worries the Weizhou rebel forces’ intentions are not simply to breach embankments and flood the Yingyang vicinity. It’s just that the Works Ministry and Engineer Academy have too limited hydrological resources regarding the Yu River (Yellow River)—some things cannot be stated definitively,” Wen Bo said. “However, the Marquis has already first dispatched Huo Xiao riding fast horses to rush to Shouspring to see Guo Duanduo, requiring Guo Duanduo to immediately send people to contact Emperor Liang. If the Liang state Works Ministry’s water affairs director lacks specific hydrological geographical data for the Yu River’s Yingzhou section and west of Honggou Ditch, then both sides must immediately send people to infiltrate enemy territory for on-site surveying…”
“It’s not this serious, is it?” Hearing Wen Bo mention the speculation from everyone’s first day of discussions at Weiyu Pavilion after the new year, even Cao Ba was somewhat frightened, smacking his lips.
“Right now we must have firsthand hydrological data for the Yingyang section of the Yu River before we can make subsequent judgments,” Wen Bo said. “If the Yingyang section’s riverbed has already suspended above the southern bank, once the embankment is breached, it means the Yu River will completely change course! And if the Mongols or Liang Shixiong’s initial calculation was to force the Yu River to change course, then even if the riverbed has not suspended above the southern bank, as long as silt accumulation is serious enough, they can conscript tens of thousands of civilians at the breach point downstream, pile earth to block the river, and forcibly compel the Yu River to change course!”
“Is the Marquis guessing the Mongols want to create a Fushan Dam!?” Wen Yuan asked in shock.
“What is a Fushan Dam?” Cao Ba asked.
“You ignorant fool, sleeping all day in class—if you asked such a stupid question in front of the Marquis, he would directly strip your Capital Commandant rank, and I’d have no face to plead for you.” Wen Bo said with a mixture of crying and laughing.
“Do you know what a Fushan Dam is?” Cao Ba grabbed Wen Yuan’s lapel and asked.
“Before the year’s end, the Marquis personally taught at the Military College, mentioning several examples of large-scale civil engineering applications in warfare. The Fushan Dam matter was explained in detail—you were probably sleeping behind Xue Chuan at the time,” Wen Yuan said quietly.
“Wen Yuan, quickly go get the lecture notes for this fool to read, lest he embarrass me after reaching Shouspring,” Wen Bo said angrily.
“The Marquis also said those were subjects that brigade and regiment commanders must learn. I only want to be satisfied leading one or two thousand troops in charges—what do I need to learn all that for?” Cao Ba said. “You’re all so serious—could this damn Floating Earth Dam really be that formidable?”
Besides making some preparations, Wen Bo also had to wait for the first batch of attendant military officers to assemble. At the very fastest, they could only depart the city for Shouspring after dark to rendezvous with Han Qian and others who had gone ahead.
He temporarily had nothing else to do, so he patiently explained to Cao Ba what the Fushan Dam was about.
The Fushan Dam’s construction traced back over four hundred years, when the Southern Liang Emperor Xiao Yan, in order to seize the strategic location Shouyang (Shouspring) from Northern Wei hands, sent people to build a river-blocking dam at Fushan in Linhuai County territory downstream of Shouyang, intending to block the Huai River and cause Huai River waters to backflow into Shouyang city, forcing Wei forces to withdraw from the Huai River’s southern bank.
At that time, Southern Liang forces conscripted two hundred thousand military and civilian personnel, building from Fushan in the south to Tong River Mountain in the north, filling earth from both ends over two years to completion.
When the Fushan Dam was first completed, the threat to Wei forces was indeed extremely great. Shortly after water storage began, Shouyang city was besieged by flood waters, forcing Wei forces to abandon the city and retreat into Mount Bagong to the north. The upstream area spanning hundreds of li became a vast sea. But regrettably, the Fushan Dam only existed for four months before being breached and destroyed.
The final result failed to pose a fatal threat to Wei forces, instead causing flood breach disasters in areas controlled by Southern Liang forces at that time, with countless military and civilian casualties.
“Didn’t the Fushan Dam fail?” Cao Ba said.
“The Fushan Dam failed, but that doesn’t mean Liang Shixiong’s scheme at Yingyang will fail. Everything still depends on specific hydrological data. This is also the key reason why you high-ranking officers must receive training at the Military College,” Wen Bo said earnestly.
“Didn’t you all also not realize the seriousness initially and needed the Marquis to remind you?” Cao Ba muttered.
Wen Bo was nearly angered to death by this fool, yet could not refute his crude words.
“Is the Marquis summoning us to Shouspring to prepare to dispatch troops and jointly attack Yingyang with Liang forces?” Cao Ba wanted battle to fight—it made his bones tingle with numbness, more satisfying than bedding women.
“Not very likely,” Wen Bo shook his head.
Although Han Qian had no way to thoroughly consider all subsequent impacts in such a short time, Wen Bo had his own judgment.
Liang Shixiong was no weak general. No matter how many troops, it would be difficult to capture Yingyang city before Yu River waters surged greatly. Moreover, this entire affair extremely likely was a joint effort between Mongols and Weizhou rebel forces—no matter how many troops were thrown in, they might suffer severe setbacks.
Wen Bo did not explain too much to Xue Chuan and others, darkly instructing them to first seriously consider what direct impacts this matter might have on Liang state’s southwest regions and western Huai’s northern areas.
Geography, mathematics, engineering and other subjects were required courses for mid to high-ranking officers entering Military College training. Xue Chuan and Wen Yuan both studied quite seriously.
After Wen Bo revealed the possibility that serious Yu River silt accumulation meant the riverbed might have suspended above southern bank flatlands, subsequent impacts could be correspondingly deduced.
Once the Yu River (Yellow River) completely changed course southward, how severely disaster would strike areas along Honggou Ditch and Sha-Ying River was not difficult to imagine. But besides the Central Plains war situation becoming more dire and chaotic, western Huai would also unavoidably suffer direct and far-reaching impacts.
This was mainly determined by the geographical position of the Ying River mouth located west of Shouspring.
Xiashi Pass north of Shouspring was less than seventy zhang wide. This extremely special terrain already seriously affected upper Huai River water discharge during summer-autumn rainy seasons. Seven or eight years out of ten would form large flood retention zones on both banks of the Huai River west of Xiashi Pass.
Over the past dozen-plus years, when Xu Mingzhen served as Shouzhou Military Commissioner, he organized military and civilian forces to build embankments on the Huai River’s southern bank west of Mount Bagong and Shouspring city, limiting the flood retention zone almost entirely to Yingzhou territory on the northern bank.
If the Yu River seizing Jialu River and Sha-Ying River to change course became fact before summer, this meant upstream of Xiashi Pass, after accommodating Yu River waters, the water scale would expand three to five times.
This was no longer a question of how much the northern bank flood retention zone would expand—it also directly involved whether southern bank embankments could withstand such great water force impacts.
Once southern bank embankments failed to hold, this meant Shouzhou territory would also become a vast sea this summer.
With advance preparation, losses of men and horses would be extremely limited. But Shouzhou territory’s resettlement plans, five to six hundred thousand mu of flooded farmland, the dam lake project planned to commence at Longchi Mountain after the new year, North Fei River dredging works, and the subsequent series of matters to develop Shouspring as western Huai’s northern major town would all be delayed. Money and grain losses would be extremely severe, possibly disrupting Tang Yi’s current construction and development rhythm.
Perhaps western Huai’s losses would still be limited. The Yu River course change would more severely and catastrophically impact areas currently controlled by He-Huai Liang forces, thereby involving the He-Huai situation transforming toward more complex, chaotic directions. Even if Emperor Liang Zhu Yu failed to hold Xu and Ru and other areas, causing Mongol cavalry to water their horses at the Huai River’s northern bank—the negative impacts on western Huai and the Central Plains war situation would be even more frightening.
Wen Bo assembled some attendant military officers departing on horseback from Liyang, reaching Shouspring city before noon on the seventh day of the first month.
The Sha-Ying River currently was the He-Huai Liang forces’ lifeline. Tang Yi’s reinforcement supplies for He-Huai Liang forces and the main grain fields of Xu, Ru, Ying, Chen and other prefectures suffering severe drought were distributed along both banks of the Sha-Ying River. Liang state Works Ministry Vice Minister Zhou Daoyuan had come to Yingzhou at year’s end to inspect Ying River water affairs. When he received the message Guo Duanduo sent from Shouspring, Zhou Daoyuan had not yet left Yingzhou.
After receiving the message, Zhou Daoyuan sent people riding fast horses to Xinzheng to report to Emperor Liang Zhu Yu, while he himself directly rushed to Shouspring to meet with Han Qian.
Emperor Liang Zhu Yu placed extreme importance on Yu River waterway governance. After ascending the throne, he specially established a Water Affairs Bureau in the Works Ministry. Very coincidentally, before the He-Shuo upheaval, the Liang state Works Ministry had just organized personnel to survey the middle and upper Yu River channel hydrological conditions, thus possessing the latest data Han Qian urgently needed.
The Yingyang section, due to special terrain, had extremely complex water conditions, with river channel silt accumulation varying in severity. Zhou Daoyuan, as Emperor Liang’s most valued Works Ministry official, did not need to retrieve data from Biangjing—he was thoroughly familiar with all kinds of data in his heart.
Before Tang Yi’s message arrived, Emperor Liang Zhu Yu had also just sent someone requiring him to rush back to Xinzheng, wanting him to assess possible impacts from the Yingyang embankment breach.
The breach point rebel forces chose was indeed the section with most serious silt accumulation. Even if the riverbed had not suspended above ground, it was not far off.
And if, as Han Qian predicted, all this was precisely calculated strategy by Liang Shixiong and the Mongols, they only needed to conscript thirty to forty thousand military and civilian personnel to build a water-blocking earth dam at a relatively easier downstream position, extremely possibly successfully forcing Yu River waters to flow south from Jialu River and Sha-Ying River to seize the Huai and enter the sea…
After confirming this information, Han Qian ordered the Second Regiment Army’s main forces to assemble at Shouspring, ordered Right Divine Martial Army soldiers returning home for family visits to all assemble for organization and training at Shouspring, while also issuing military orders to Hao, Chao, Shou, and Huo prefectures to each recruit ten thousand able-bodied civilian laborers to assemble at Shouspring.
Several days later, Emperor Liang Zhu Yu sent word from Xinzheng, confirming that Mongols had established a large camp on each of the north and south banks downstream from the Weizhou rebel forces’ breach point at Zhaotang Embankment.
Zhaotang Embankment in Wuzhih County territory, located west of the great lock where Jialu River joined the Yu River, had even more serious riverbed silt accumulation—also an excellent location for constructing a river-blocking dam downstream of the breach opening.
Currently the Yu River was still ice-locked, with about one and a half months remaining in the ice period. The flowing water beneath the ice layer was also extremely shallow. Although temporarily no further actions by Weizhou rebel forces and Mongols could be seen, since the entire plan was confirmed as a joint effort between Weizhou rebel forces and Mongols, hastily dispatching troops to forcefully attack Yingyang city was also unrealistic. Predicting situation development toward the worst could never be excessive.
Following Emperor Liang Zhu Yu’s requirements, Han Qian immediately dispatched from Shouspring one hundred twenty thousand shi of brown rice, three thousand shi of salt, thirty thousand dan of refined iron, five thousand sets of armor, two thousand precision steel crossbows, two hundred bed crossbows, ten thousand bundles of iron arrows and other supplies. Before He-Huai warmed and ice melted, counties controlled by He-Huai Liang forces would organize personnel to transport overland to Xuzhou, to avoid future flood surges preventing transport capacity from keeping up.
On the twentieth of the first month, besides the Second Regiment Army’s ten thousand elite troops, two thousand naval officers and soldiers, and one thousand guard cavalry assembled at Shouspring, the newly organized Right Divine Martial Army’s twelve thousand officers and soldiers who had been released for nearly half a year for family visits and reunions, plus forty thousand able-bodied civilian laborers conscripted from outlying prefectures and twenty thousand able-bodied men conscripted from Huoqiu, Shouspring, and Fengtai counties—all completed assembly in Shouzhou with unimaginable efficiency.
On the twenty-first of the first month, Han Qian signed military orders formally establishing the Fourth Regiment Army in Tang Yi Commissioner’s Office beyond the First, Second, Third Regiment Armies, Tang Yi Navy, and Guard Cavalry Command, appointing Wen Bo as Commander and Tan Yuliang as Vice Commander.
On the Fourth Regiment Army’s organization day, officers and soldiers were not immediately issued weapons and armor, but were directly issued large quantities of shovels and carrying poles. The sixty thousand temporarily recruited able-bodied civilian laborers were also temporarily incorporated into the Fourth Regiment Army.
The Fourth Regiment Army’s current task—first was to use utmost capability to reinforce the Huai River southern bank embankment west of Mount Bagong before May.
Ji Xiyao and Engineer Academy officials and engineers specializing in water conservancy and river affairs, over the previous half-month period, conducted new emergency surveys of terrain around Shouspring city.
After obtaining firsthand data, Han Qian decided to designate the lower reaches of North Fei River, Wabu Marsh east of Shouspring city, and the surrounding low-lying area totaling three to four thousand square li as a designated flood storage zone, relocating and resettling the few civilian households there.
However, the flood retention zone was on Shouspring city’s west side, possibly extending west into Huoqiu territory this year. But Wabu Marsh was on Shouspring city’s east side. Excavating a large flood discharge river three to four meters deep, two to three hundred meters wide, fifty li long between these two areas was absolutely not a task that fifty to sixty thousand civilians could complete within three to four months.
They could only designate a relatively open flood discharge belt with lower terrain between the western embankment of Shouspring city and Wabu Marsh.
Currently, besides constructing shallow embankments on both sides of the flood discharge belt to protect rear irrigation areas and Shouspring city, more importantly they had to dig through terrain obstacles on the flood discharge belt that impeded rapid flood drainage.
This way, they could ensure that once large-scale flood retention formed between Shouspring and Huoqiu, floodwaters could also be directed through the flood discharge belt to Wabu Marsh in the fastest time, thereby achieving significant reduction of impacts on agriculture.
The Longchi Mountain Dam Lake also needed to be built according to original plans, but between Longchi Mountain Dam Lake and North Fei River, they urgently needed to newly excavate a canal, so that before the rainy season arrived, stream waters from the Longchi Mountain area could be directed to North Fei River, eliminating the possibility of impacts on the southern bank embankment from the rear flank.