Chapter 803: Former Xu Family, Now Northern Liang

The sudden fall of Hutou City allowed the Beomang army to deploy in a highly advantageous offensive position at the southern end of Long'er Plain, leading to an all-out emergency at Huaiyang Pass and the two towns of Liuyar and Fuling. At this critical juncture, Gu Dazu, the deputy commander of the Beiliang infantry, overcame strong opposition. Instead of dispersing his forces to reinforce the front line, he concentrated them around the Chongzhong military town behind Huaiyang Pass, urgently linking up with the large frontier cavalry unit assembled by Zhou Kang, the deputy commander of the cavalry. As a result, Huaiyang Pass, the seat of the Beiliang Protectorate, and the two towns of Liuyar and Fuling implicitly became the second Hutou City. However, because Chu Lushan, the nominal top commander of the Beiliang frontier army, insisted on personally defending Huaiyang Pass, Gu Dazu's actions, which carried the suspicion of abandoning allies, pushed this veteran general, an outsider from the former Southern Tang, into the spotlight. Not only cavalry generals but also those within the frontier infantry system had many grievances against Gu Dazu. Especially after Chen Yunchui, also a deputy infantry commander, temporarily led troops from Youzhou to reinforce Liangzhou, significant disagreements arose between these two Beiliang infantry generals of comparable rank. Furthermore, Jin Partridge Zhou Kang was inherently a typical offensive commander within the Beiliang army, leading to Gu Dazu quickly finding himself isolated in Chongzhong military town. To make matters worse, He Zhonghu, an old general whose prestige and seniority in the cavalry surpassed Zhou Kang's, unexpectedly fell critically ill at this very moment. Outside Liangzhou Pass, Beiliang faced both internal strife and external threats, making the entire situation perilous.

Inside the temporary military council hall in Chongzhong military town, another argument erupted, nearly completely tearing them apart. The relatively lower-ranking officers and lieutenants had become somewhat numb. By this time, the Huaiyang Pass defensive line behind Chongzhong and Hutou City had completely lost contact. Prior to this, no fewer than a hundred elite rangers had died in battle while transmitting military intelligence. In fact, Huaiyang Pass and the two towns of Liuyar and Fuling were already isolated outside the pass, submerged in the overwhelming tide of the Beomang cavalry. In the hall, there were originally about ten chairs, with designated seats for Gu Dazu, Zhou Kang, the newly arrived Chen Yunchui, Qi Dangguo (commander of the six thousand Iron Pagoda cavalry), Yuan Nanting (commander of the White Feather Guards), and others. However, the day before yesterday, Zhou Kang, furious, stood up in front of Gu Dazu, kicked over his chair, and left the council hall, turning these once symbolic chairs into mere decorations in subsequent discussions.

Today, Zhou Kang and Gu Dazu once again had an irreconcilable dispute regarding the future positioning of Chongzhong military town. The cavalry general, renowned as Jin Partridge, stood by a table with a sandbox, slamming his left fist down hard on the tabletop. He then directly pointed his right finger at Gu Dazu on the other side, angrily exclaiming: "Defend, defend, defend! All you know is to huddle in defense? Is that all you're capable of, Gu Dazu? I truly don't know why His Highness invited you from the Central Plains to join our Beiliang frontier army! If it weren't for your book 'Collection of Ashes', and if the Great General and Mister Li hadn't also praised your strategic analysis back then, I would even suspect you're a spy for the Beomang barbarians!"

At these words, not only young, rising generals like Ning Emei, the deputy commander of the Iron Pagoda cavalry, felt a chill of fear, but even the taciturn Chen Yunchui's eyelids twitched. Zhou Kang's words had clearly gone too far. Chen Yunchui's peripheral vision caught a glimpse of Gu Dazu, who remained impassive. Zhou Kang, showing no sign of relenting, exacerbated the situation by pointing his finger at Gu Dazu. "You couldn't even defend Hutou City, so how can Huaiyang Pass be defended? Can Liuyar and Fuling, which inherently rely on the flexible mobility of cavalry to actively seek combat opportunities, be defended? You, Gu Dazu, are an infantry commander, but I am the deputy commander of the Beiliang cavalry. I cannot stand by and watch over ten thousand cavalrymen in Liuyar and Fuling be forced to dismount and fight as infantry due to your personal opinion, ultimately dying indignantly on those city walls! Nor can I stand by and watch my tens of thousands of cavalrymen crowded around Chongzhong every day, helplessly witnessing our comrades die on the front lines without being able to fight!"

By the end, Zhou Kang's eyes were practically spitting fire as he rebuked, "It's fine if you, Gu Dazu, are afraid of death; I don't care if your infantry likes to act like cowards, but by what right do you make us cavalry wait for death here too?!"

Gu Dazu calmly replied, "Without the support of Commander Zhou's cavalry, Chongzhong cannot be held. Cities are static; without external containment by cavalry, no city in the world is impregnable. Similarly, without the cooperation of stable cities, cavalry is like water without a source; winning a few battles is not difficult, but winning an entire war is unrealistic."

Zhou Kang sneered, "Then your infantry can just dutifully stay in Chongzhong military town. As long as you cooperate with our cavalry, that's enough. Just watch us kill the enemy, that's not too much to ask, is it? Dong Zhuo's army hasn't truly established itself yet, but our cavalry can navigate our own defensive line with our eyes closed. Forget swift assaults and charges; even in night battles, we can fight cleanly and decisively. Our numerical disadvantage can be offset by our familiarity with the terrain. Gu Dazu, you keep saying you want to wait for news from the battlefields of Qingcang City in Liuzhou and Xiaguang City in Youzhou, ideally stalling until the new city on the Liangzhou border is built. But you've also led troops and fought battles; how could you not know that opportunities on the battlefield are fleeting? What, are you perhaps waiting for Protector Chu to die at Huaiyang Pass so you, Gu, can go to that new city and become the next Protector?"

Gu Dazu remained expressionless, merely staring at this outspoken third-in-command of the Beiliang cavalry, and slowly said, "Zhou Kang, there are no jokes in the military. Some words I can tolerate, but some cannot be simply dismissed as a fart."

Zhou Kang narrowed his eyes and smirked sinisterly, "Finally can't take it anymore? I have thirty thousand Beiliang Right Army cavalry outside the city. Do you really dare to kill me in Chongzhong?" Then Zhou Kang chuckled, feigning a glance around, "In historical novels, there are interesting anecdotes about throwing a cup as a signal, where hundreds of axmen would emerge to hack someone into mincemeat. But you, Gu Dazu, have no wine cup in your hand, and it seems these generals and officers in the room might not necessarily obey your commands, either?"

Gu Dazu smiled, "You and I both know full well that in Chongzhong military town, Commander Zhou, you'd be more likely to put me under house arrest. As for the generals present, more or less, none of them look favorably upon Gu Dazu right now."

Old General Chen Yunchui, who had largely refrained from interjecting for fear of fanning the flames, sighed. How had things escalated to this point? If Chu Lushan were here, it would be fine, or even Yan Wenluan or Yuan Zuozong. This was the result of having no clear leader. If not for the momentous events they faced, capable of influencing Beiliang's fate and even the entire world's power structure, Gu Dazu, Zhou Kang, and even young Beiliang military prodigies like Qi Dangguo and Ning Emei inside the room could each stand their ground, fully capable of deciding the outcome of a provincial battle. Things wouldn't be this difficult or troubling. Chen Yunchui, thinking of this, suddenly felt a pang of sadness, recalling his own youthful military years. Back then, it was also a gathering of valiant generals and astute strategists, like clouds and rain: Li Yishan, Zhao Changling, Yan Wenluan, Wu Yong, Xu Pu, Yu Tieshan, Liu Yuanji, Zhong Hongwu, Chen Zhibao, Yuan Zuozong, Chu Lushan... But back then, there was always someone who would make the final decision, and such a near-internal conflict, an unfamiliar situation, would never arise.

Unfortunately, His Highness had to personally rush to Liuzhou to put out the fire.

And Chu Lushan, the number one figure in the frontier army stubbornly defending Huaiyang Pass, for some unknown reason, had made no preemptive decisions regarding the complex military affairs in Chongzhong behind him.

Chen Yunchui knew that if he didn't act as a mediator again, a major fight might break out in the council hall today. Although Chen Yunchui secretly leaned towards Zhou Kang's aggressive stance, Gu Dazu was, after all, the leading figure of the infantry faction in Liangzhou. Chen Yunchui couldn't help but feel a certain sympathy for the blatant insults and suppression from Jin Partridge. Ultimately, this was not just a dispute between Zhou and Gu, but a long-standing inherent divergence between the Beiliang cavalry and infantry. Even Yan Wenluan couldn't change this contradiction. The Beiliang infantry was numerically superior, but in wars against Beomang, the main role was always played by the Beiliang cavalry, and it was the cavalry that ultimately decided victory or defeat. Just as when Beiliang underwent its transition, the Dragon Elephant Army and the Great Snow Dragon Cavalry made their respective dashing raids into Beomang, shining brilliantly. And later, in Youzhou, supposedly the main base of Beiliang infantry, what truly became renowned throughout the land was the ten-thousand-strong Youzhou cavalry led by the young general Yu Luandao.

Chen Yunchui took a few steps closer to the table, lightly resting his hands on its surface. He softly said, "The battle in Liangzhou is unfavorable, and it's the same in Liuzhou. Even His Highness has had to personally go there to confront Liu Gui's army, and perhaps even face Tuoba Pusa. Let's not cause more trouble for His Highness. Let's speak properly and keep angry words to a minimum..." Chen Yunchui paused, glancing at Zhou Kang and Gu Dazu, who were facing off. "Gentlemen, allow me to interject a reminder: this is a frontier army council hall, second only in stature to the Beiliang Protectorate. This is not the Liyang court where civilian officials merely talk while military officers exhaust themselves. Nor are we those scholars who stay out of the fray, grandly claiming to be strategizing. You and I are all soldiers who lead armies into battle. Perhaps tomorrow, one of us will personally rush to the battlefield, and perhaps...perhaps today will be my last time seeing any of you. I believe in General Gu's prudence, and I also believe in General Zhou's courage. Whether the Chongzhong cavalry should fight or defend currently has its pros and cons. General Gu and General Zhou have already said a lot. Now Huaiyang Pass is out of contact, Commander Yuan is not in Liangzhou, and His Highness has gone to the urgent battle in Liuzhou. So, as a compromise, can we devise a middle-ground strategy for Chongzhong? Can we combine offense and defense? For example, General Gu believes that Commander Zhou's thirty thousand Left Army cavalry, along with General Qi's six thousand Iron Pagoda cavalry and General Yuan's White Feather Guards, all charging out at once to achieve a massive victory of killing over a hundred thousand enemies in a large battle, is too aggressive, then..."

Gu Dazu hesitated for a moment, then spoke with firm conviction: "Commander Chen, to be honest, not only must Chongzhong be held, but more importantly, we must preserve enough cavalry strength for Beiliang. This is not a question of being aggressive or conservative; it's a battle that fundamentally cannot be fought from the outset. To put it another way, even if the cavalry kills over a hundred thousand enemies, if our own side suffers more than thirty thousand casualties, rendering the entire Left Cavalry unable to form absolute combat strength within a year, then Beiliang would effectively have already lost. Furthermore, facing Dong Zhuo's prepared army and his well-rested cavalry, can our thirty thousand Left Cavalry and the two elite cavalry units under General Qi and General Yuan truly guarantee a resounding victory without suffering irreparable losses?"

Gu Dazu picked up a special bamboo stick and drew a large circle south of Chongzhong and north of the Liangzhou border. "Why are He Zhonghu's forty thousand Right Cavalry still not moving at this point? Didn't they hear the bad news from Hutou City and angrily march north to Chongzhong? The reason is simple: whether that new city, which cost Beiliang half its fortune, can be successfully built determines whether Beiliang can fight outside the pass again. Under this premise, Huaiyang Pass can be lost, even Chongzhong where we are can be lost, but we must, before the city falls, delay the Beomang army's advance north of the new city for as long as possible! How many enemies our Beiliang frontier army kills during this period, or how many military merits are gained, is not important! One could even say that whether Protector Chu dies, whether I, Gu Dazu, die, whether you, Chen Yunchui, die, or whether he, Zhou Kang, dies, is equally unimportant!"

Gu Dazu gave a bitter smile: "Dong Zhuo would love nothing more than for our cavalry to actively engage him in a battle, exchanging troop losses. That King of the Southern Court would be thrilled! To put it bluntly, their Xijing and Beiting of the Beomang barbarians only care how many Beiliang frontier soldiers Dong Zhuo killed, not how many Beomang soldiers died. Look at Hulu Pass on the eastern front; how many Beomang siege infantry did that young general named Chong Tan force to their deaths? No matter how many people died, as long as he breached Wogong City and Luanhe City, wouldn't he still be promoted and ennobled by that old woman Murong, leapfrogging to become the new Beomang Xia Na-bo? I dare to assert here that if the Left Cavalry is deployed, even if over ten thousand men die in battle, the King of the Southern Court's seat that Dong Zhuo sits on, which we've so painstakingly made precarious, can immediately be stabilized for another half a year!"

Gu Dazu looked down at the sandbox, his voice hoarse. "I know that, except for me, Gu Dazu, everyone in this room probably feels that since Chongzhong has so many troops, choosing to avoid battle is a disservice to the Beiliang frontier army who died at Hulu Pass in Youzhou, and an even greater disservice to Hutou City and Liu Jinu..."

Just then, a slightly cold voice came from the main entrance of the council hall. "Enough."

Not only Gu Dazu abruptly looked up, but all the generals, including Zhou Kang and Chen Yunchui, quickly turned their heads towards the tall, slender figure.

The young man was travel-worn, yet his presence brought an immense sense of reassurance.

This person was Xu Fengnian, who had traveled alone from Tianjing Pasture to Chongzhong military town. To reach the Huaiyang Pass front line as quickly as possible, and to allow Shi Fu, the Liangzhou general who had regained significant authority, to take more troops to Liuzhou, Xu Fengnian had not even brought a single White Horse Righteous Guard. His reckless journey caused the sword qi planted by Qi Jiajie, which he had previously suppressed, to stir again, which was why Xu Fengnian, one of the Four Grandmasters, looked unwell. But what truly angered Xu Fengnian was the turbulent undercurrents in the council hall. Hutou City in Liangzhou had fallen, Liu Jinu had died in battle, and the situation in Liuzhou was dire, with the Dragon Elephant Army quite possibly completely wiped out. It was still uncertain whether Hulu Pass in Youzhou could truly entrap Yang Yuanzan's large army. The new city on the Liangzhou border was not yet built, and outside Liangzhou Pass, with no massive city to rely on or dangerous passes for defense, they were already forced to confront Dong Zhuo's centrally advancing army. Furthermore, He Zhonghu, one of the pillars of the Liangzhou cavalry, was suddenly critically ill, and Xu Fengnian himself was temporarily unable to fight. It was imaginable how terrible Xu Fengnian's mood was at that moment. Yet, the young prince, striding into the council hall, still tried his best to suppress his emotions. Even so, Xu Fengnian showed no intention of reprimanding anyone, and Zhou Kang, the fearless deputy cavalry commander, instantly lost all his bluster, uncharacteristically feeling somewhat guilty.

Xu Fengnian let out a soft breath, silent for a moment, then slowly began to speak: "I, too, really want to go outside Qingcang City in Liuzhou, catch Tuoba Pusa, and beat him to death, preferably slaughtering Liu Gui along with him. But firstly, I can't do that right now, and secondly, Liangzhou is more important than Liuzhou. So I had no choice but to run here without stopping, and well, I've been standing outside the door listening to you argue for about a quarter of an hour. It's a pity I didn't get to see Commander Gu and Commander Zhou come to blows; that's a bit of a regret."

Zhou Kang, looking embarrassed, coughed a few times.

Some young officers, seeing this scene, struggled to suppress their laughter.

Xu Fengnian did not continue to mock the veteran generals. He walked to the north side of the table, facing south. The military generals from both factions instinctively held their breath, standing solemnly.

Xu Fengnian said, "To subdue the enemy without fighting, that's the specialty of civilian officials. We in Beiliang don't practice that. If the Beomang barbarians want to advance south, then we will fight and conquer them, beating them so badly they can't even return to Beomang."

"To fight and conquer—that has always been the confidence, not arrogance, of our Beiliang, or rather, the Xu family's Iron Cavalry. But even Xu Xiao never thought there was anything particularly joyful about winning an easy victory. Which battle established our Beiliang frontier army as the premier military force during the Spring and Autumn Wars? It was the Battle of Xileibi, which Xu Xiao himself told me was the hardest, most brutal, and bloodiest battle of his life, where he several times lost all hope and nearly wanted to give up! Now, our Beiliang faces a second Battle of Xileibi. Xu Xiao is gone, and Li Yishan, Zhao Changling, Chen Zhibao, Wu Qi, Xu Pu, Zhong Hongwu, and others have either departed or died. But!"

"But now, beside me, there are still you, Chen Yunchui, Zhou Kang, Yuan Nanting, Qi Dangguo, Ning Emei, who were present then, and Gu Dazu, newly joined Beiliang. A bit to the north, Huaiyang Pass still has Chu Lushan. To the east, Youzhou has Yan Wenluan's infantry and Yu Luandao's cavalry, with Hu Kui and Huangpu Ping. Within Hulu Pass, our Beiliang has two heavy cavalry units personally led by Yuan Zuozong. To the west, there is the Dragon Elephant Army of Xu Longxiang, Li Mofan, and Wang Lingbao, and the Liuzhou Governor's Office with Yang Guangdou and Chen Xiliang. To the south, there are even more—not to mention the civilian and military officials of Beiliang itself, there are thousands of scholars from other regions!"

"Veterans like Yu Tieshan and Liu Yuanji, who had already retired, including the old soldier Lin Doufang, have all explicitly stated their intention to return and rejoin the Beiliang frontier army."

Xu Fengnian suddenly smiled and said, "Whether future historical records include a passage about Beiliang fighting a nation with just one region is a matter for the Liyang civilian officials; we can't control it. They can write whatever they please. But at the very least, I think in a few years, all of you here should strive to survive and then ramble to your descendants about your military careers back in the day. That would be good."

"Probably just like Xu Xiao used to ramble to me all those years ago."

"If, by any chance, anyone here dies in battle, they won't have the good fortune to boast and show off to the young ones."

At this point, Xu Fengnian looked at Zhou Kang. "For instance, if you, Zhou Kang, die in battle, I believe in the future there will be an old man named Gu who, if he meets a young man named Zhou, might sit down and casually chat a bit, drinking wine, and say that old man Zhou Kang from your family always spoke unpleasantly, but... he was a hero willing to die gallantly for Beiliang."

Xu Fengnian's expression momentarily wavered, then he smiled and said, "If I die in battle, and any of you here survive, please tell your descendants that Beiliang lost after a desperate fight, not by surrendering without a fight."