Chapter 990: North Liang Does Not Dare to Fight

Autumn, the third year of Xiangfu.

The chill deepened, and dew turned white with frost. The cool air of the Central Plains was most pronounced in the northwestern frontier.

As dusk fell, outside Jubei City, a vast army of 400,000 steppe cavalry set up camp, stretching endlessly. The neighing of warhorses gathered like thunder.

Dozens, even hundreds, of small cavalry groups continuously rode out to patrol, swiftly approaching Jubei City. At the very edge of the bow and crossbow range, they would look up, pointing at the city walls with their horsewhips and sabers, their arrogance palpable.

On the northern wall of Jubei City alone, there were over forty massive repeating crossbows, costly to build and hailed by military strategists throughout history as national treasures. Their range and destructive power were truly beyond the imagination of the steppe people. Ye Baikui, a military strategist from the Spring and Autumn period, once genuinely exclaimed on the battlefield of Xilei Wall, “A crossbow of nine oxen can topple a mountain with one arrow, and from three hundred paces, can slay a grandmaster!”

However, for some unknown reason, facing the North Mang cavalry positioned beyond the range of ordinary bows and crossbows, the repeating crossbows on the Beiliang city wall remained completely still, showing no sign of being used to achieve initial success or display power, despite being a top-tier military weapon.

North Mang had, in fact, already experienced the power of the repeating crossbows at Hutou City. However, that particular group of Great Xiti chieftains responsible for the siege, under the command of Southern Court King Dong Zhuo, had attacked Hutou City without regard for casualties. This resulted in severe losses for their main forces, leaving them greatly weakened. Most of them are now quietly licking their wounds within the steppe territories and are not participating in this southern expedition. General Yang Yuanzan, who led his forces into Hulu Pass in Youzhou during the First Liang-Mang War, died in battle for his country. Had Beiliang not used the head of this old Southern Dynasty commander to exchange for the body of Liu Jinu from Hutou City, Yang Yuanzan's remains would likely have become just one of the many bones in a "pyramid of enemy skulls" at Hulu Pass. As for Zhong Tan, the meritorious deputy general who captured Wolong and Heluan cities, he was defeated and captured at Miyun and is currently imprisoned in Jubei City. Dong Zhuo, meanwhile, is leading the main assault on Huaiyang Pass in the north and did not accompany the main army south to Jubei City. Therefore, the North Mang army's impression of Beiliang still largely revolves around the term 'Iron Cavalry.' This is naturally due to Dong Zhuo, who used strategy to decisively defeat Hutou City. Even after resigning as Southern Court King, Dong Zhuo repeatedly reminded his colleagues in the Southern Dynasty court that Hutou City, once the premier garrison in the northwestern frontier, was already extremely difficult to assault. The magnificent new city beyond Liangzhou Pass, built by the Xu family of Beiliang with the accumulated wealth of twenty years, was absolutely not something that could be breached quickly. The path for the steppe cavalry southward, he warned, was like a horse leaping across a chasm, and they should prepare for the worst-case scenario of losing a dozen or more major banners. Unfortunately, firstly, Dong Zhuo had already lost the prestigious official position of Southern Court King, which greatly diminished his influence. Secondly, during the First Liang-Mang War, Dong Zhuo had intentionally preserved his strength, extensively depleting the power of the steppe Xiti chieftains for the benefit of the empress dowager, which severely damaged his reputation in both the northern and southern capitals. Finally, officials in both courts believed that 'Fatty Dong' was deliberately exaggerating the difficulty of assaulting Beiliang's new city. They thought he merely wanted to glorify his military achievements, having already secured a great victory at Hutou City, and still hoped to one day seize absolute power and once again dictate terms to all the grand generals and commissioners.

Steppe aristocrats continually galloped their horses outside the city, arrogantly shouting, “Your grandpa is here! Xu, you cowardly brat from Beiliang, do you dare to come out and fight?!”

Some steppe warriors of astonishing strength drew their bows to a full moon, galloped forward, and with a taut bowstring and a sudden twang, shot arrows that rapidly struck the city gate of Jubei City, embedding themselves with quivering fletchings.

As these renowned steppe archers turned their horses back, they were met with thunderous cheers from the front of the North Mang camp.

It turned out that catapults, initially positioned behind the cavalry, were constantly being moved southward along paths within the camp. There were a total of nine hundred of them, and with the one thousand four hundred that Commissioner Wang Yong of Baoping Prefecture was escorting to the battlefield before dawn, the total number of catapults would reach two thousand three hundred. The supply of giant stones was so vast that it was claimed to have emptied two opposing mountains within Longyao Prefecture of the Southern Dynasty. Legend has it that His Majesty the Emperor of North Mang and the Grand Strategist personally made time to visit the site. The empress, clad in a dragon robe and speaking with imperial authority, personally conferred the title of 'National Guardian Mountains' upon the two peaks, promising that when Jubei City was breached and the steppe eventually unified the Central Plains, these two mountain spirits, temporarily without their foundations, would each be granted dominion over one of the Eastern and Western Sacred Mountains.

Among the siege engines, besides the meticulously crafted catapults from the Southern Dynasty's Directorate of Military Armaments, North Mang, sparing no national resources for this great war, also had countless supply wagons containing over a hundred siege towers as tall as Jubei City. These towers were originally built for Hutou City, but after the construction of the grander and taller Jubei City, they had to be temporarily heightened. To do this, nearly ten thousand young laborers and artisans were urgently hired to work through the night, to avoid delaying the military opportunity and incurring the Emperor's wrath. Because of the immense scale of the project, the Southern Dynasty court exerted immense pressure on the Directorate of Military Armaments, making its officials, from top to bottom, appear gaunt and emaciated. However, it was rumored that in the matters of procuring catapults and raising siege towers, the officials of the Directorate of Military Armaments each profited immensely from this additional income. A frustrated Hongjia loyalist wrote a satirical poem, one line of which, "Though gaunt and bony, their money bags swell, their sleeves, it seems, hold no clean breeze," became widely circulated, specifically to mock the Directorate's officials for embezzling funds and enriching themselves during a national crisis. The Southern Dynasty's Directorate of Military Armaments in North Mang had three departments under it: Armor and Weapons, Bows and Crossbows, and Siege Equipment. Siege towers and other siege instruments all belonged to the Siege Equipment Department. The department head had not expected the matter to become such a widespread scandal, creating a furor inside and outside the court. He was on tenterhooks and almost resigned in apology. Unexpectedly, His Majesty the Emperor, who had always treated the Southern Dynasty remnants and aristocratic families with leniency, issued a decree to arrest that scholar, who came from a minor Dingzi clan of the Southern Dynasty, and immediately executed him for "spreading seditious rumors." What truly relieved the department head was a private conversation with the chief official of the Directorate of Military Armaments, who stated that His Majesty the Emperor had personally inspected the items crafted by their Directorate and found no flaws, deeming the materials excellent and the quality superior. Therefore, it was already considered a great service to the steppe, and a little "night grass" (ill-gotten gain) was harmless.

In addition, the Southern Dynasty, which had already largely imitated the Central Plains in establishing extensive post roads, built three more intersecting post roads within just six months in Longyao Prefecture alone, for transporting grain, fodder, and supplies. The prefectures north of Longyao, though not exhausting their national coffers as thoroughly as Longyao did in a "drain the pond to catch the fish" manner, also expanded a longitudinal post road directly to Longyao. Hundreds of thousands of cattle and sheep from the fertile northern grasslands moved south alongside the warhorses and iron hooves of the steppe warriors. All of this was undoubtedly preparation for the upcoming siege of Jubei City. Concurrently, almost all the resources of the entire Southern Dynasty were channeled towards Longyao Prefecture, which bordered Liangzhou Pass. Dong Zhuo's ability to easily acquire a large number of young steppe men to besiege Huaiyang Pass was also due to this. Before the First North Mang War, Tuoba Pusa purged the Northern Court factions on the steppe, resulting in a large number of displaced criminals who had lost their Xiti protection. They had no choice but to seek restoration of their status through military merit on the battlefield. At that time, because Yang Yuanzan's main southern expeditionary force was unexpectedly annihilated, North Mang's central army, which had broken through Hutou City, also failed to complete its mission, which gave the Beiliang border army some breathing room. This time, it is believed that North Mang will certainly not retreat easily, even though Huang Songpu has already died on the Liuzhou battlefield, suffering the same tragic fate as Yang Yuanzan and becoming the highest-ranking North Mang military official to die in battle. Despite the tragic news spreading throughout the Southern Dynasty and the court being filled with lamentations, His Majesty the Emperor of North Mang did not hesitate. She appointed Crown Prince Yelü Hongcai to act as regent and lead the main army south to Jubei City, while she personally remained in the Western Capital to calm the populace.

This battle, North Mang was determined to win!

Perhaps the silence from Beiliang's Jubei City further fueled the arrogance of the steppe warriors. Coupled with the Crown Prince, who was personally leading the campaign, not ordering his fierce generals to restrain their elite cavalry from riding out and patrolling, it seemed to have become an unwritten rule for Southern Dynasty border generals and steppe Northern Court Xiti chieftains that not making a show near Jubei City's walls was an act of cowardice. Some began to ignore not only the silent and fearsome large repeating crossbows but also ordinary defensive bows, risking their lives to gallop forward, regretting only that they couldn't leap onto the city walls. Some young warriors from prominent Northern Court families wore golden and silver armor, gleaming dazzlingly in the setting sun. For these young steppe aristocrats, who, at a young age, transitioned from the Kheshig Guard to centurions or even chiliarchs, they had long grown tired of hearing about the independent Liyang border army; their ears had calluses from it. They even harbored numerous complaints, feeling that among those whom His Majesty the Emperor valued in the Southern Dynasty, only Fatty Dong had some capability. Old men like Huang Songpu, Yang Yuanzan, and Liu Gui were truly not worth mentioning. If His Majesty had not inexplicably forged an alliance of "Southerners governing Southerners" when welcoming those desperate Hongjia refugees who fled north to the steppe seeking survival, how could old, empty-named figures like Huang Songpu have become Grand Generals?

After leaving the camp, two riders did not head directly for Jubei City but instead rode slowly along the perimeter of the main camp. Both riders were young, and their armor and sabers were ordinary. However, the Xianbei buckle jade belt worn by one of them allowed both to pass unhindered. This young man was Yelü Dongchuang, a member of the North Mang Royal Court. Xianbei buckles in North Mang were graded by the number of gemstones embedded in the jade belt. Most descendants of the Yelü and Murong clans could have two or three, with the number increasing based on military merit. Imperial relatives like Murong Baoding, who held high positions and military power, or Yelü Hongcai, a veteran minister from three reigns and Yelü Dongchuang's grandfather, could have eight. Yelü Dongchuang's Xianbei buckle originally had six. After being enfeoffed as a National Guardian General and concurrently serving as the Vice Minister of War in the Western Capital, overseeing one of the four military garrisons including Junziguan and Wazhu, a large cat's eye gemstone was added. He should have remained in the Western Capital's court or at one of the four garrisons, such as Gousai Prefecture border. However, this time, he exceptionally accompanied the army to Jubei City, serving as a central supervisor alongside the young knight next to him—a high position with little actual power, merely for show.

Yelü Dongchuang, short in stature and dark-skinned, yet exuding the fierce aura of a steppe wolf, turned to the young man riding alongside him and smiled, “Tuoba Qiyun, with such great achievements ahead, you and I can only stand by and watch. Isn't that frustrating?”

The other young man was Tuoba Qiyun, the eldest legitimate son of Tuoba Pusa, North Mang's God of War. He was the Spring Nazha, the foremost of the four steppe Nazhas, with a far more profound background than the Summer Nazha Zhong Tan, the Autumn Nazha Duan Bo'er Huihui, and the Winter Nazha Wang Jingchong. Zhong Tan was originally the most highly regarded; he had not only personally experienced the First Liang-Mang War but also held impressive military achievements in capturing Wolong and Heluan cities in Youzhou. As long as he successfully recruited Buddhist forces from Lantuo Mountain in the Western Regions, his rapid ascent in the Southern Dynasty was a certainty. Furthermore, his family had deep roots, and his father, Zhong Shentong, was one of North Mang's fourteen Grand Generals. Zhong Tan even had the potential to become the next General Dong Zhuo, who, despite having no title of 'vassal king,' wielded the power of one. In the future map of the Central Plains, having two vassal kings from one clan was not an extravagant hope. Now, Zhong Tan was missing in the Western Regions, his fate unknown, and the Spring Nazha, Tuoba Qiyun, had one less natural rival.

Tuoba Qiyun said indifferently, “Given our fathers' family statuses, as long as Jubei City falls, even if we were dozing on horseback the entire time, why worry about military merits not finding their way into our pockets?”

Yelü Dongchuang frowned, “From Spring Nazha's tone, do you think there are still variables in taking Jubei City?”

Tuoba Qiyun hesitated, then, bathed in the fading glow of the setting sun, turned to glance at the tall, majestic city. “Forcing Beiliang's main force to dismount and fight may not be entirely a good thing.”

Yelü Dongchuang laughed heartily, “You scholars, with all your learning, have one flaw: you're always afraid of this and that. But a war must always be fought, mustn't it?”

Tuoba Qiyun dismissed it with a smile. “Central Plains literati enjoy playing Go, and there's a saying: 'gold in the corners, silver in the sides, grass in the belly.' The previous three-front war, where Beiliang only achieved a great victory at Hulu Pass in Youzhou, forcing Dong Zhuo's central army to regrettably retreat north, is clear evidence.”

Yelü Dongchuang twisted his wrist, gently brandishing his horsewhip. “Now we've suffered another major defeat at Laoyushan; even the fifty thousand elite cavalry of the Southern Dynasty border army, sent as reinforcements, were 'dumpling-wrapped' (encircled). Are you saying we should repeat the same mistake?”

Tuoba Qiyun shook his head. “On the contrary, we should push further south and attack Jubei City. This is actually an intentional move by the Grand Strategist: to exchange the Southern Dynasty's Western Capital for Jubei City. Those Spring and Autumn remnants who fled from the Central Plains to the steppe, after twenty years of settling and growing, have gradually established themselves and now subtly pose a 'tail too big to wag the dog' situation. In fact, His Majesty the Emperor is not without concerns about this. Throughout the Southern Dynasty's four prefectures, the civilian official factions are deeply intertwined. Even the Longguan noble clans, notoriously exclusive, have had to lower their status and intermarry with them to solidify their positions, which clearly shows the immense influence of these Central Plains aristocratic families. In the long run, the Southern Dynasty remnants might turn from 'knives' into 'swords'—still capable of harming others, but one careless move could lead to self-inflicted wounds.”

Yelü Dongchuang grinned, his teeth bared like a wild wolf's, looking particularly sinister and chilling. “If that's the case, as long as Beiliang has the courage to deploy their main field forces from Qingyuan to Liuzhou, then let them sweep through and invade the Southern Dynasty's heartland. Anyway, those dying will be troops inextricably linked with the Spring and Autumn remnants. It would just be helping us, the steppe people, eliminate some hidden dangers. Killing the wrong ones occasionally is fine, as long as no wrongdoers are let go. In the end, the Western Capital's court would be thoroughly cleansed. It would be like Beiliang's cavalry acting as executioners for His Majesty the Emperor, and it would also ensure fewer variables on the vast battlefield outside Liangzhou Pass. A win-win situation. The Grand Strategist is truly ruthless.”

Tuoba Qiyun murmured with a sigh, “Such tactics... perhaps learned from the Central Plains people.”

Yelü Dongchuang pursed his lips. “Later, when we rule the Central Plains, I will make sure those scholars and literati suffer greatly and utterly humiliate them!”

The Spring Nazha did not reply, merely glancing at the majestic and silent silhouette of Jubei City. It stood like a bedrock in the face of the flood of steppe iron cavalry, quietly accumulating eight hundred years of profound Central Plains destiny.

Within North Mang's Western Capital, an old woman with a stooped figure walked along the base of a wall. Her small, slow steps precisely traced the boundary between the lingering twilight and the deepening shadows.

Silently accompanying the old woman was the Grand Strategist from Qi-Jian Le-Fu, an imperial tutor. He was an old man whose ambition lay not in the northwestern Jubei City, but in Tai'an City of the Central Plains.

The old man suddenly asked, “Your Majesty, why were you unwilling to let Yelü Dongchuang remain in Gousai Prefecture to resist the Liuzhou cavalry? Winter Nazha Wang Jingchong brought back ten thousand border cavalry from Liyang's Liaodong border. Before the great defeat at Laoyushan, they would have been sufficient to contend with Yu Luandao's Youzhou cavalry. But now, they are inevitably somewhat insufficient. Although the fracturing of the Southern Dynasty doesn't affect the overall situation, it still feels a bit unbecoming for Your Majesty's dignity. Those elder Hongjia loyalists, even if they've left officialdom, are not without intelligent people; they might become wary because of this.”

The old woman, unassisted, stumbled forward and said coldly, “I heard from Li Mibi that Wang Du has been quietly minding his own business for twenty years, but recently, I don't know if it's a final burst of energy or plotting for his descendants, he's secretly associating with quite a few important figures. Better safe than sorry. Let young Wang Jingchong sacrifice himself for the country. What's the harm in me bestowing a dozen or so Xianbei buckles upon him and giving old Wang Du a grand posthumous title? These old Spring and Autumn remnants like Wang Du, who have survived until now, are truly 'old but not dead, therefore a thief' compared to the younger generation of descendants. Back then, I paid close attention to their subtle infiltration of the Southern Dynasty officialdom, but unexpectedly, I still couldn't stop their permeation. I kindly took them in and gave them a bowl of rice to sustain their lives, and in return, they left me with such a mess!”

The old woman's tone grew heavier, and she spoke sharply and sternly, “Our steppe iron cavalry has campaigned south and north for centuries, invincible since the Great Feng dynasty, relying precisely on single-minded devotion to killing the enemy. If there were private desires, they were only for dividing spoils after battle. When have we ever seen such calculations and selfish blindness before battle, like at Hulu Pass in Youzhou and Laoyushan in Liuzhou?! If not for the fortunate appearance of Wanyan Yinjiang from the Longguan noble clans, this time, using the Liuzhou cavalry to help the Southern Dynasty 'scrape bone and drain pus,' I would certainly spare none of these Longguan parasites, including the Wanyan family, who have lived on the steppe for generations! They deserve to die! They deserve to be killed!”

The Grand Strategist sighed softly.

The agitated old woman slowly composed herself, narrowing her eyes to gaze at the sharp boundary of light and shadow at her feet, like the border between two nations, or the division between Yin and Yang.

The old woman slowly said, “Whether it's Yelü Dongchuang, who has a good grandfather helping him devise strategies, or my cousin Murong Baoding, who believes in 'every man for himself,' or even Grand General Zhong Shentong—all of them are ambitious like wolves. They appear to be deeply cunning, but in my eyes, none are as intelligent as Dong Zhuo. Only this 'Fatty Dong,' with his slick tongue, knows truly when to pick up and when to let go. No one wants to attack the strategically perilous Huaiyang Pass; the military merits are not great, and even if it's taken, only Chu Lushan's head would be notable. By then, it will certainly involve heavy losses, at least tens of thousands of casualties. In such a case, even if I promise to enfeoff them as princes or marquises based on military merit, without troops under their command, an ordinary person wouldn't be able to hold that position stably. That's why when I previously asked Murong Baoding to attack Huaiyang Pass, that Commissioner of Orange Prefecture acted as if his parents had died, making exorbitant demands, asking me for so many Rouran Iron Cavalry for nothing, and still thinking it wasn't enough. He just wanted to show up but not exert effort. What 'overall situation'? He clearly understood the importance of the matter but simply refused to deal with it. Utterly despicable!”

The old woman sneered, “As long as Dong Zhuo can take Huaiyang Pass, even if he cannot participate in the attack on Jubei City, I will restore him to the position of Southern Court King, and he will lead his army into Beiliang Pass.”

The Grand Strategist frowned, “That would be Chen Zhibao, who was enfeoffed as a prince in Western Shu by Liyang. Releasing a tiger back into the mountains—a great disaster.”

The old woman chuckled softly, “Disaster? I myself have only a few days left to live. Why would I care if the ungrateful wolves of the Yelü and Murong clans live or die?”

The Grand Strategist remained silent.

The old woman comforted him, “Sir, as long as the hooves of the steppe cavalry tread upon Tai'an City, enter Guangling Road, and reach the southernmost lands of the Central Plains, history will remember both you and me. As for who ultimately sits on the dragon throne—whether it's someone named Yelü, Murong, or Dong—what does it matter?”

The Grand Strategist gave a wry smile. “If we can unify the world, then fewer deaths would always be a good thing.”

The old woman burst into laughter, sweeping her sleeve, “Then you'll have to endure living for many more years!”

North Mang's Imperial Tutor stood rooted to the spot, his figure desolate.

The old woman walked on alone, hands clasped behind her back, the lingering light gradually vanishing from beneath her feet.

In the gloom, the old woman murmured to herself, “Next year's heavy snow in your hometown of Jinzhou in Liaodong, perhaps I won't see it. Tell me, if I hadn't returned home then, but stayed by your side, would I not now have... a house full of descendants?”

Just before dawn, within the Jubei City princely mansion, in a rear courtyard, candlelight blazed brightly in one of the houses.

A Liang saber rested on the table. A young man began silently donning the prince's python robe.

Outside, a young woman, dressed in plain white mourning clothes, held a zitan sword-box, her expression resolute. She quietly waited for him to come out.

Also within the mansion, Xue Songguan, who hadn't slept all night, slowly sat up, put on her boots, picked up an ancient guqin, and gently pushed open her door.

Elder Taoist Yu Xingrui of Wudang Mountain had just finished practicing the set of boxing techniques created by his junior martial brother Hong Xixiang in the small courtyard, feeling refreshed, and left the courtyard with his sword.

An old man with white clothes, white hair, and white eyebrows sat on a stone stool. On the table, a sword-box lay open. The old man held a sword in one hand, using two fingers to break the blade inch by inch, and gently dropped the pieces into his mouth, chewing them like soybeans. Casually discarding the remaining hilt, the old man glanced at the empty sword-box, slowly rose, and smiled. A century of sword qi filled his belly; it was time to unleash it.

On the stone steps of a small courtyard, the young swordsman, current Sword Master of the Wu Family Sword Tomb, crouched. He suddenly stood up and turned to glance at Cuihua, his sword attendant, who carried the ancient sword 'Suwang' on her back. For the first time, she opened her eyes and smiled sweetly at him.

In another small courtyard, two martial brothers from Wudi City simultaneously stepped out of their rooms. Wang Xianzhi's eldest disciple, graceful as a jade tree in the wind, took a Liang saber from his waist and tossed it high to the other man. The latter smiled knowingly and threw one of the two famous swords, 'Shudao Fujia,' that he had received yesterday, to his senior brother. One carrying a Liang saber and the other a famous sword, moving in identical fashion, finally, each with their respective saber and sword, strode out of the courtyard side by side.

A middle-aged man with white cloth leg wrappings, after stepping out, turned and waved to his Miao wife standing at the doorway. She smiled and gave him a thumbs-up.

In the same elegant and quiet courtyard, an aged Confucian scholar put down the book of sages he was holding indoors and straightened his robes. An old swordsman sitting nearby drank half a cup of wine, then poured the rest onto his unsheathed longsword. Outside, a burly old man stood embracing his saber, eyes closed in concentration, waiting for his two old friends.

Before the assembly hall of Jubei City's princely mansion, beneath the wooden archway, someone held an iron spear diagonally, with the Sect Master of Dongyue Sword Pond standing beside him.

In a certain part of Jubei City, a woman in purple knelt down and tied a small knot in her skirt.

On the southern wall of Jubei City, an ordinary-looking middle-aged swordsman sat cross-legged, a sword resting across his lap, gazing into the distance, seemingly awaiting the sunrise over the Eastern Sea.

Not far from this section of the city wall, a man in white stood, tilting his head back and drinking heartily. Beside him, a woman in a vermilion robe had a serene expression.

After donning his python robe and securing his Liang saber, the young prince paused briefly just before opening the room door, then abruptly pulled it open.

The North Mang army's assault on the city was imminent, awaiting only dawn.

Suddenly, a single rider charged out. This North Mang chiliarch galloped to within a hundred paces of the city wall and laughed wildly, “What damn nonsense about Beiliang's Iron Cavalry being the best in the world! Not a single person has dared to come out and fight even now?!”