The snow was still falling, drifting slowly down. Thick straw mats were laid across the top of Linnan’s city walls, and charcoal braziers were set up every thirty zhang. The soldiers on watch huddled by the braziers, silently grateful for General Pingnan’s consideration. Liu Jue ordered that all households in high places were forbidden to light lamps, and every lantern and torch on Linnan’s city walls was extinguished at once. Under the moonlight, Linnan City north of the Han River appeared far off as nothing but a mass of black shadow. It was impossible to tell where the mountains ended and the city began.
At the Zi hour of Great Snow, fog began rising off the Han River’s surface. Two quarter-hours later, the fog thickened; at first the scattered lights on the far bank could still be glimpsed, but gradually vision was blocked by rolling white mist. Ahead lay a boundless expanse of empty haze. Liu Jue, having finished arranging the defenses, returned to the General’s Residence to rest. If the Chen army crossed at the Zi hour, he still had at least three more hours to rest. He needed to sleep a while—and, incidentally, he wanted to see A’Luo.
A’Luo was still awake, calculating the time. She kept wondering, puzzled, how exactly the Chen army meant to cross the river. Her eyes fell on a line in the book: all the kingdoms along the river release rafts in sacrifice. Rafts, was it? She murmured to herself, “Releasing rafts. If bamboo rafts were floated down from upstream, linked into a bamboo bridge, with people waiting downstream to receive and guide them along the bridge, they wouldn’t need to fear the fog obscuring their direction. If someone lit a great fire in Linnan, it would serve as a beacon. So the black-clad men meant to start a fire in the city.”
Liu Jue happened to walk into the inner hall just then and, hearing A’Luo murmuring to herself, blurted out, “We can cross the same way!”
A’Luo turned, and their eyes met. Liu Jue froze for a moment, his heart beginning to race. A’Luo stood beneath the lamplight, her eyes shimmering with light, her hair veiled in a faint glow, her face soft and radiant—the whole room’s brilliance seemed gathered upon her. Liu Jue couldn’t help but stare, entranced. After a long moment he slowly walked over, gently reaching out to touch her face, then quickly pulling his hand back, afraid this was merely an illusion.
A’Luo couldn’t help but smile. Liu Jue’s breath caught, and he suddenly came back to himself, saying, “Who told you to dress up like this?”
Huh? A’Luo felt a flash of indignation. She turned her face away and said crossly, “Aren’t you supposed to be commanding the defense of the city? Why did you come running here!”
Liu Jue stood there awkwardly, not knowing what to say, and finally forced out, “I was checking whether you were behaving yourself. Don’t go causing trouble for me again!”
“You’ve seen. You can go now! I’m going to sleep!” A’Luo didn’t dare look at him, walked to the bed and lay down, casually letting down the gauze bed curtain. She turned her back to him, truly falling asleep.
The pale yellow gauze curtain blocked Liu Jue’s view. He stared bitterly at the hazy silhouette on the bed, thinking of tomorrow’s coming hard battle, and told himself grimly—once this is over, I’ll deal with you then! He blew out the lamp and turned to leave the room.
Gu Tianxiang, having received Liu Jue’s intelligence, deployed the navy according to plan.
Just as Linnan City was on full alert, upstream along the Han River on the Chen side, a line of small boats trailing bamboo rafts slowly angled across toward the opposite bank. The river’s current was swift, and the fog grew thicker. The Chen commander waited anxiously; three hours later, a falcon descended onto his hand, and a thin smile finally crossed his lips.
At the Chen hour, Chen Guo’s three hundred thousand-strong army, warships chained together, the massive fleet advanced slowly toward the opposite bank of Ning Guo, following the line marked by the bamboo rafts.
At the sixth quarter of the Si hour, Chen forces reached the riverbank, and the first troops disembarked and assembled. Linnan City was utterly silent. Aboard the Chen commander’s tower-ship, a low, slightly hoarse voice rang out: “Release the chains—attack the city!”
Beside him, another arrogant voice rang out: “Rest assured, Royal Brother—Chunan will bathe Linnan in blood!” The voice was familiar—it was none other than the leader of the black-clad men who had infiltrated Linnan the day before.
Toward the south gate of Linnan City, sentries atop the wall suddenly spotted dots of black shadows emerging from the fog. A bell rang out; the waiting defense commander waved his signal flag, and thousands upon thousands of fire arrows shot densely from the walls, a dark cloud of sparks descending on the shadowy figures. Screams of agony echoed continuously. After one volley of fire arrows, more Chen soldiers poured out from the warships, battle cries deafening. Then Linnan City fell silent once more.
The Chen army raised shields and formed ranks. Before long, outside the south gate, they had formed a square formation using their ships as cover.
The ships lay hidden in the fog, yet just a few zhang from the river’s edge the sun shone brightly, its light reflecting off Linnan’s ice-covered walls in seven-colored brilliance. Liu Jue stood atop the wall, gazing at the Chen army two li outside the city, composed and steady.
Chunan, gazing up at the black figure atop the wall, felt hatred rise sharp within him. At his signal, the soldiers surged forward like a tide. Thirty zhang from the wall, they stepped onto the ice and a whole rank slipped and fell at once; another volley of arrows rained down from above, felling more still. Chunan frowned and sounded the retreat horn. The Chen forces swiftly pulled back.
Seeing this, Liu Jue called out, “Ready the log rollers.”
A few quarter-hours passed. Shielded behind their shields, the Chen army swiftly began laying thick straw mats over the ice, layer by layer. Logs rolled down from the wall, striking down another wave.
This repeated again and again; not until the Wei hour did Chen forces finally reach the base of the wall. Chunan grew increasingly agitated. Two hours had passed with only a few thousand casualties, yet Linnan’s walls had frozen into a thick sheet of ice, making it extremely difficult to scale. He began to realize that Ning’s forces were stalling for time. Once the fog cleared and the navy attacked, the Chen army would find itself caught between two enemies. He urgently ordered catapult fire.
Outside Linnan, a row of catapults had been lined up, hurling massive stones against the walls with tremendous force. As soon as a layer of ice cracked, hot water was immediately poured down from the wall; before it could freeze, Chen’s vanguard shot grappling hooks upward, setting up scaling ladders. Wave after wave of men fell, only for more to climb up in their place.
Liu Jue felt increasingly anxious. The ice wall could hold them off for a time and had bought them the initiative, but with the enemy’s greater numbers, sooner or later they would breach the walls.
Chunan laughed wildly. “Pass the order down—ten gold pieces reward to any man who reaches the top of the wall, dead or alive!”
Time grew ever more pressing; the Chen forces swarmed forward like locusts. All the soldiers of Linnan, together with the able-bodied townspeople, resisted with tenacity. Liu Ying and the Black-Clad Knights fought fiercely alongside Liu Jue atop the wall. Linnan’s ice-covered walls had turned blood-red; below the wall, corpses lay strewn across the ground. Under the evening glow, the blood-tinged ice wall shimmered with an eerie light, resembling nothing so much as a hellish battlefield.
The southern army had likewise suffered heavy losses; after four hours of fierce fighting, arrows were running low, and the log rollers and stones were exhausted—stones hauled down from the mountain and timber pulled from demolished houses could barely keep up. The soldiers’ faces already showed exhaustion.
As the golden sun sank in the west and the jade rabbit of the moon rose high, the Chen army, relying on their superior numbers, pressed the attack without pause or rest. Liu Jue gazed into the distance, but his eyes couldn’t pierce the thick fog still shrouding the river’s surface. His black robe and armor were soaked with blood, uncertain how much of it was his own; the hair on his forehead was damp with sweat. Finally a few Chen soldiers made it over the wall, cutting down defenders; a red mist rose behind Liu Jue’s eyes, and before the Black-Clad Knights could beat him to it, his sword flashed down like drifting snow, swiftly sealing the breach.
Chunan watched Liu Jue standing proudly with sword in hand, fury surging within him. With a wild roar he flew out from among his troops, scaling the wall with his lightness skill. He transformed into a streak of crimson and clashed with Liu Jue in battle.
The two were evenly matched in skill. Liu Jue’s stamina, however, was already greatly depleted, while Chunan was still full of energy, his short sword coiling around Liu Jue like a serpent-dragon. Chunan shouted loudly, “Today I’ll wash away my former disgrace!”
Liu Jue glanced at the time and laughed heartily. “Too late! Our navy has already crossed the Han River—they’ve gone to take your water camp!”
Chunan was shocked, but his sword struck all the more fiercely. In one stroke it pierced Liu Jue’s right chest. Liu Ying, heedless of anything else, rushed forward desperately with the Black-Clad Knights; Chunan’s blade struck down two skilled fighters as he fought, but they succeeded in pinning him down. Liu Jue coughed up a mouthful of blood and laughed. “Look—the fog has already dispersed!”
The Zi hour was nearly upon them; the fog over the Han River had begun to disperse, revealing the dense shadows of ships on the water’s surface. Suddenly, thunderous war drums erupted across the river’s surface. Battle cries rang out, sharp and fierce.
Chunan glared bitterly at Liu Jue’s blood-soaked face, which showed a composed, unhurried expression, as if he had scarcely felt the sword strike at all. His heart, anxious over the situation on the river, would no longer allow him to keep fighting. He leapt down from the wall in retreat.
Before long, the Chen assault began to falter. Liu Jue pushed Liu Ying aside, straightened himself, and called out in a loud voice, “All soldiers, our navy has already broken into their camp—open the gates and strike from both front and rear!”
The ten thousand troops who had long been waiting at the city gate, having watched the brutal fighting atop the wall while forced to hold back, were already restless with anticipation. At the order, the gates opened, and they charged forward with roaring battle cries against the Chen army.
Ning Guo’s official records state: In the thirty-third year of the Qingyuan era, Chen Guo launched an attack. The southern route army of Ning, with forty thousand defenders holding the city while thirty thousand naval troops crossed the river under cover of fog, destroyed thirty li of Chen’s naval encampment and, on the day of Great Snow, defeated three hundred thousand Chen troops beneath the walls of Linnan City. After this battle, Chen’s navy suffered a severe blow, and the Chen ruler sued for peace, paying an indemnity of four hundred thousand taels of silver and pledging annual tribute.
Linnan City stood bathed in blood beneath the moonlight. Cries of grief and agony drifted through the night air. Gu Tianxiang rushed anxiously into the city. Liu Jue saw him coming and smiled.
Hearing a cry of alarm, Gu Tianxiang looked down and saw blood already staining his own white armor. He frowned. “You’re wounded?”
Liu Ying and the Black-Clad Knights all dropped to their knees at once. “We beg my lord to return to the residence!”
Liu Jue gave a soft laugh, a flicker of relief crossing his handsome face, and winked at Gu Tianxiang. “I hate cleaning up after a battle most of all—help me get this city cleaned up!” With that, he collapsed into Gu Tianxiang’s arms.
“Damn it! How were you all protecting your lord?!” Gu Tianxiang roared with fury.
Liu Ying paid him no mind, scooping Liu Jue up and rushing toward the General’s Residence. The Black-Clad Knights mounted their horses and followed. Gu Tianxiang cursed under his breath, “Raising a bunch of good-for-nothings with eyes on top of their heads!” But he swiftly issued orders to have the city secured and put in order.