The bombardment took less than half a day to completely destroy Jinghai Gate’s barbican and gate tower. Although the Liang warships had already withdrawn to the northern bank before dusk and the dust and smoke that had filled the sky gradually settled, the devastated ruins brought such shock and terror to the great Chu court officials that it had yet to dissipate.
Most court officials departed separately, but various department vice ministers and military officers of Capital Commander rank and above remained in Chongwen Hall, still dazed and lost.
After bombarding Jinghai Gate, the Liang army withdrew to the northern bank as stipulated in the declaration of war. Apart from recovering the ruined ground, the Palace Guard had no need to board ships in pursuit. But in three days, the Liang army would formally land at Caishi, planning to construct a pontoon bridge for crossing the river between Caishi and the northern bank. At that time, tens of thousands of Liang troops would surge southward like a tide—what were they to do?
Caishi was located within the territory of Dangtu County in Jingzhao Prefecture, over seventy li east of Jinling City, neighboring Fanchang County to the west, with the northern bank being Wushou County of Daliang’s Donghu Prefecture.
The Yangtze River channel at Caishi, constrained by low hills on both banks, measured only six to seven li wide even during flood season.
North of Caishi at this time, right in the river’s center, there was a sandbar stretching about ten-some li long and varying from three to five li wide.
Excluding the sandbar, the waters between the northern and southern banks at Caishi, at their narrowest point, were only about four li wide in total.
The middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River lay in an alluvial plain. Without large-scale embankments built on either side, during flood season the river waters spread across both banks, with the widest sections of the river surface reaching up to a hundred li.
In any case, Caishi was one of the locations near Jinling most suitable for large forces to cross the river. Further downstream, one would have to reach into Runzhou territory to find better river-crossing sites.
At this strategic strongpoint, dating back to Emperor Tianyou’s era, multiple defensive fortresses and military strongholds had been built to control and guard the Yangtze River channel.
This time as the Liang army’s main force moved south, large numbers of troops directly stationed in Wushou County, even sending people to establish advance camps on the mid-river island called “Little Yellow Sandbar.”
Besides the three capital units of the Palace Guard here, two days ago they had urgently transferred two capital units from the Left Wuxiang Army and Yongjia Army to strengthen the defense line at Caishi.
Although the Liang army had assembled only about twenty thousand troops on the northern bank, even without considering that the Liang army, with the aid of their powerful naval warships, could rapidly transfer troops from other regions of the northern bank to the opposite shore of Caishi, everyone in Chongwen Hall felt the possibility of holding Caishi with the current garrison was extremely slim.
Moreover, in the declaration of war delivered on the fourteenth, the Liang army had explicitly outlined their battle arrangements: before landing, they would first bombard the Caishi fortresses beneath Emerald Snail Mountain.
The solidity of the Caishi fortresses certainly could not compare with Jinghai Gate. Could it be that before the Liang army’s bombardment, they really had to withdraw the defending troops from these several military strongholds beneath Emerald Snail Mountain in advance?
“Within three thousand paces of Liang army bombardment, all is reduced to rubble, but around Emerald Snail Mountain, apart from a few narrow country roads, the ground is all muddy. Their cannons are cumbersome and heavy, able to display their might only from ships, but difficult to bring ashore. In this humble minister’s opinion, we should withdraw from Caishi to beyond three thousand paces from the riverbank to maneuver against the Liang army—perhaps we can fight one battle!” Gu Zhilong pushed through the crowd, stood in the great hall, and said in a deep voice to the despondent young emperor.
Once Gu Zhilong spoke thus, several generals in the hall glanced over, thinking Gu Zhilong was truly shameless. Clearly he did not want his Left Shenwu Army direct troops to defend Caishi unto death, or rather he fundamentally did not want his direct forces to be the first to test the Liang army’s sharp edge. Yet his reasoning could be stated so refreshingly—truly worthy of being called a crafty old fox? Could it be he had completely forgotten the hatred of his son’s death back then?
The thin youth, completely lacking his morning’s domineering manner, stood beside Qing Yang like a wilted eggplant, unable to discern how much truth lay in Gu Zhilong’s words.
Although quite a few people present could see through Gu Zhilong’s thoughts, no one stood forth to expose him. Even Palace Guard Deputy Commander Guo Liang came forward to concur: “Minister of War Gu speaks correctly. The art of warfare is nothing more than avoiding strength to strike weakness, avoiding shortcomings to deploy strengths. Knowing that the Caishi fortresses all lie within range of enemy ship bombardment, making soldiers defend unto death would only increase casualties needlessly without benefiting the overall situation.”
Of the three capital units of Palace Guard currently stationed at Caishi, two were Guo Liang’s direct forces. Regardless of Liang and Chu’s ultimate fate, he would not watch his subordinate generals who had followed him for years die needlessly on the battlefield at this time.
Both Guo Liang and Gu Zhilong advocated withdrawing the garrison from the Caishi fortresses. Others all remained silent without standing forth in opposition. Even regarding how the garrison should conduct guerrilla warfare on the periphery after withdrawing from the Caishi fortresses, and how Jinling City’s defense should be strengthened, no officers from the Bureau of Military Affairs or Palace Guard Superintendent’s Office mentioned anything…
“I am weary,” Qing Yang clutched the silk document in her sleeve. After waiting long and seeing not a single person among the full court of civil and military officials offer suggestions or strategies, she stood up impatiently and said, “How to defend along the river—Prime Minister Shen, Marquis Yang, and the two offices of the Bureau of Military Affairs and Superintendent’s Office, handle it as you see fit!”
Everyone looked toward Qing Yang with considerable surprise, not understanding why the Empress Dowager was throwing down the burden at this time. Or perhaps she understood in her heart that no matter how they struggled, they could hardly resist the Liang army’s river-crossing advance?
……
……
Yang En did not remain at the Palace Attendants’ Office but returned to his residence. The sky had darkened. The vast mansion employed few servants, but fortunately the incessant chirping of cicadas and insects meant it did not feel too desolate.
Yang En simply drank a bowl of medicinal porridge and sat down under lamplight. He spread open the Jinling city defense map and stared at it with furrowed brows for quite a while. An old servant came in to report: “Marquis Cai has arrived!”
Yang En had the old servant invite Cai Chen in, yet wondered in his heart—after the disastrous defeat at Fan River, Cai Chen had been convalescing at home all this time. What was he coming to see him about now?
Cai Chen sat down across the table from Yang En. Looking at the defense map spread on the long table, he asked: “Even if soldiers serve with their lives and generals fear not death, what chance is there of holding Jinling City?”
“If soldiers serve with their lives and generals fear not death, perhaps there’s a twenty to thirty percent chance of holding the city. However, Zhang Xiang, Zheng Yu, Zhang Chao and others all previously opposed relocating the capital, which probably also means that even if we barely hold the city, not many loyalist reinforcements will come,” Yang En said. Not bothering to guess Cai Chen’s intentions, Yang En laid out his assessment of the situation with dejected heart, saying, “Jinling City appears as prosperous as ever, yet at this time it’s like a decayed mansion eaten through by worms. Too many people want to see it collapse with a thunderous crash so they can seek another patron!”
“Precisely because too many people see that Jinling City is golden outside but rotten within, seeing through that Jinling cannot withstand attack, they want to wait until Jinling City collapses before seeking another patron with clear conscience. But when Jinling City collapses with a thunderous crash, how many innocents will be buried with it—very few care about this,” Cai Chen said.
“…” Yang En sighed softly without speaking.
“Take yourself, Old Marquis, for example. Given your friendship with the Liang ruler and the Liang state’s various ministers, when Jinling falls, the Liang ruler and his ministers will certainly treat you as an honored guest. Afterward, sailing on rivers and lakes, traveling through streams and rivers—how pleasant that would be, far better than laboring over documents and records. And after a hundred years, the world will also remember you, Old Marquis, as a virtuous and loyal minister of great Chu,” Cai Chen continued. “But if you, Old Marquis, were to advocate surrender at this time, even if you could save tens of thousands of innocents from needless burial, posthumously you would inevitably be spat upon by countless self-proclaimed noble persons. Future generations might even believe great Chu was buried alive in your hands, Old Marquis. You might enter the historical records as a great Chu criminal minister—that would truly be a great loss…”
Yang En became so angry his veins bulged. He was about to reach out and drive Cai Chen away. He stood up with a flick of his sleeve, saying huffily: “Don’t use such goading tactics on me. Even if I don’t want this clean reputation, with so many civil and military officials in this court, will they surrender just because I say to surrender? No matter how decayed this great mansion is, it still needs that final blow before it will collapse with a thunderous crash!”
Cai Chen sat behind the table with an air of calm indifference, looking at Yang En and saying: “The Old Marquis speaks correctly. Everything indeed requires an opportune moment, but must ten thousand or eighty thousand die before the Liang state’s annexation of our great Chu can be considered proper and justified?”
“Just say directly whatever you’re hiding in your belly coming here,” Yang En said with impatient severity.
“When Prince Shou was plotting his scheme back then, he secretly had people spread rumors in the marketplace streets and alleys about the Empress Dowager and the Liang ruler’s secret affairs. Although these rumors were all suppressed afterward, has the Old Marquis considered whether the Empress Dowager and the Liang ruler might not be so innocent after all?” Cai Chen asked.
Yang En stared at Cai Chen in bewilderment, not knowing what he meant by suddenly raising this matter, or rather he was unwilling to believe what Cai Chen was about to say next.
“Whether affection developed early or she yielded under duress, the Empress Dowager marrying the Liang ruler to preserve the clan and court ministers would be more acceptable to those who are waiting than the decayed mansion collapsing with a thunderous crash. Only the reputation that the first advocate must bear would be even worse…” Cai Chen said.
Yang En sat back down on his seat, dazed and lost.
He had guessed that Cai Chen rushed over at this time hoping he would stand forth to advocate surrender, but he had not expected Cai Chen would actually want him to be the first advocate of this matter.
“Old Marquis, you absolutely must not agree to this Cai surname’s proposal…” The old servant of the Yang residence was also startled. Disregarding Cai Chen’s presence, he hurriedly knelt down to dissuade him.
The old servant had followed Yang En all his life. He naturally knew Yang En had always placed extreme importance on his clean reputation. If he agreed to Cai Chen’s proposal, living out his remaining years bearing such infamy—for someone like Yang En, what unimaginable suffering that would be?