Chapter 103: Preparing for Battle

Qi Jun waited for a while longer, but seeing that no one had arrived from the direction of the commandery city, he could not help but feel increasingly anxious. He wondered if the villager Liu Biao had sent to deliver the message had failed to see the commandery captain, or if the intelligence he had provided had not been deemed important enough to warrant a response.

He shook his head, deciding not to dwell on why the commandery reinforcements had failed to arrive. For now, he had to work with Feng Qinian to distribute the city’s remaining resources and prepare for its defense.

On his way back to the County Captain’s office, passing by Anxiu Bridge, Qi Jun remembered the little girl he had entrusted to the woman's care. He hurried toward the house where the bandits had committed their atrocities. Deng Fang, following behind, frowned in confusion as Qi Jun suddenly turned toward a residential dwelling, but he followed nonetheless.

The room still carried the faint scent of blood. Although the stains on the floor had been washed away, the traces of where they had pooled remained. The wreckage left by the bandits had been cleaned up, and the room had been restored to its former cleanliness and order. The bodies of the little girl’s parents were gone; Qi Jun surmised that the woman must have taken care of their burial.

The little girl was sitting on the edge of the bed, holding a large steamed bun and eating slowly with her head bowed. When she heard someone enter, she looked up, her teary eyes blinking in a daze, clearly still immersed in the sorrow of losing her parents and recalling happier times.

Qi Jun walked up to her, crouched down, and gently stroked her small head.

"Big brother, you eat too. This was bought by that sister..." The little girl smiled slightly at Qi Jun and reached out with the bun, gesturing for him to eat with her.

"Big brother isn't hungry, you go ahead and eat," Qi Jun said, gently pushing the bun back toward her. He then asked, "Where is that sister?"

"She went out just before you arrived," the girl said, looking at Qi Jun as she took a small bite.

Witnessing this scene and listening to their conversation, even without Qi Jun saying a word, Deng Fang understood what the girl had endured the night before.

"Damn those bandits!" Deng Fang slammed his fist against the door in fury, startling the little girl.

"When you return, conduct a census of the civilians affected by this bandit raid. Do your best to treat the injured, bury the dead as quickly as possible, and arrange for someone to watch over the orphans and the elderly who have no one else," Qi Jun sighed heavily, then added, "If there is a shortage of funds, arrange for some reliable men to transport some over from Dongling Village first."

While the county soldiers had a fixed pension for those killed or wounded in battle, the civilians of Anqiang City who had suffered at the hands of the bandits had nothing. Qi Jun’s arrangements were not only out of humanitarian concern but also intended to strengthen the bond between the government and the people, and to mobilize their enthusiasm and initiative. It would be impossible to hold the city against the Qiang forces if they relied solely on the dwindling number of county soldiers and his own anti-bandit squad.

Qi Jun recalled the famous quote by a great man from later ages: "The masses have infinite creative power." Only by relying on the people and mobilizing them could they overcome all difficulties.

"Understood, I have noted it all down," Deng Fang nodded solemnly, then looked at Qi Jun with a puzzled expression. "Brother Jun, I just heard you mention a 'sister' to this little girl. Do you have another target in mind?"

"Stop your wild guessing about things you don't understand! What do you mean 'another target'? If it weren't for all these recent complications, I would have already married your sister Yunfei and had you change how you address her, which would save you from worrying so much all day long." Qi Jun gave him a sharp look, thinking to himself that Deng Fang was becoming more and more like Sun Jiu.

At the thought of Sun Jiu, Qi Jun’s heart gave a sudden jolt. With the battle reaching its peak, he had been so focused on maneuvering against the bandits that he had neglected everything else. He had no idea how Sun Jiu was doing now.

The image of a blood-soaked Sun Jiu being pulled from the battlefield by the county soldiers the night before flashed in his mind. His heart tightened, and he immediately rose to head outside.

He stopped at the door, however, and looked back at the little girl. Helplessly, he said to Deng Fang, "Take this little girl to the County Captain’s office as well; she can be looked after there. The city is in such chaos right now, we can't let anything happen to her."

Qi Jun knew there were many children like her in the city, and he could not possibly look after them all. But since he had encountered this one, he could not bring himself to walk away and ignore her fate.

Inside the County Captain’s office, Captain Feng sat in the main hall, drinking tea while listening to Xiao Ming and Zhao Gui report the situation. After a night of fierce fighting, the bandit uprising in the city had finally been suppressed, and the tension in Feng Qinian’s heart eased slightly.

"My Lord, the second squad lost 21 men in battle, with 47 wounded. There are 35 who can still fight," Xiao Ming said, his expression heavy as he looked at the note in his hand.

"The third squad fared slightly better... 16 men were killed, 28 wounded, 6 of whom are severely injured. Including the lightly wounded, there are 78 men still combat-ready," Zhao Gui said, casting an embarrassed and guilty glance at Feng Qinian and Xiao Ming.

The reason his third squad suffered fewer casualties was not that his men were better fighters than those under Sun Jiu and Xiao Ming, but rather due to the timing of their entry into the fray. When the battle first broke out at Anxiu Bridge, it was Sun Jiu who led his understrength first squad to hold off the numerically superior bandits until Xiao Ming’s reinforcements arrived. Xiao Ming’s second squad had then taken over from the decimated first squad, pinning the bandits down and keeping the conflict contained near the bridge. It was only when nearly every bandit in the city had rushed to the scene that Xiao Ming’s forces were overwhelmed and began to crumble. By then, the bandits had been worn down in both stamina and morale by Sun Jiu and Xiao Ming. When Zhao Gui’s men joined in to sweep the battlefield, it was much easier.

Remembering how he had used his men to hold Feng Qinian’s family hostage to seize control of the office, his face flushed with shame. He did not know how to face his superior.

"Since you helped suppress the uprising, it shows you aren't entirely a fool," Feng Qinian glared at Zhao Gui, his tone sharp. "I truly do not know what He Wenxing promised you to make you so loyal that you would abandon law and propriety to join in this rebellion! Could it be that you also wanted to sit in this chair as County Captain?"

"My Lord! This subordinate was confused for a moment, blinded by that man's deceit... My Lord, I fought with my life to suppress the rebellion last night!" Hearing the dissatisfaction and resentment in Feng Qinian’s tone, Zhao Gui fell to his knees in terror to repent, not forgetting to mention his final contribution.

Since Feng Qinian had already allowed him to redeem his crimes through service, he could not go back on his word. Furthermore, they were currently short on manpower, and the third squad was mostly composed of Zhao Gui and He Wenxing’s loyalists; if he were to settle old scores with Zhao Gui now, he feared it would incite a mutiny among the third squad.

Feng Qinian sighed inwardly. As County Captain, he could not fully control his subordinates, and he had nearly been betrayed by the very man he had promoted. Thinking of his most loyal officer, Sun Jiu, who was currently comatose and severely wounded, and the fact that his first squad had been decimated, a deep sense of powerlessness washed over him.

The only ones he could truly rely on now were Qi Jun and his anti-bandit squad.

"Master, Mr. Qi and Master Deng have returned," Ah Xin said, bowing as he entered the hall.

"Hurry, bring them in!" Upon hearing this, Feng Qinian felt a sense of relief and quickly signaled for Ah Xin to bring them forward.

"Magistrate Feng, Captain Xiao, Captain Zhao, let me outline my plan," Qi Jun said as he entered the room. After greeting them with a bow, he immediately began to share his thoughts.

Feng Qinian, who had been agonizing over how to deal with the Qiang people, sat up straight, watching Qi Jun with a serious and expectant gaze.