Chapter 28: The Barbarians Who Refused to Follow the Script

Within the Grand Marshal’s residence in Yonggu City, the veteran general Zhang Chaoyang could only look on helplessly at Chen Yongzhong, who was weeping uncontrollably.

“Marshal, Song Ying’an has already returned and I’ve handed the command token over to him. What use is there for me to remain in Yonggu City any longer?”

“The Ministry of War’s official order will arrive soon. If I leave now, it’s only a few days earlier—what difference does it make?”

“I’ve never traveled far from home since I was a child. My elder sister wrote yesterday, worried about me. As her younger brother, I should show some sense. If I return to the capital sooner, she’ll have peace of mind that much earlier, won’t she?”

Watching Chen Yongzhong’s shameless performance, the old general who guarded Yonggu City finally waved his hand dismissively, as if swatting a fly. “Enough, leave for now. Remember to slip out of the city tonight.”

As Chen Yongzhong departed, offering endless thanks, the old general let out a long sigh.

This shameless coward couldn’t even wait for the Ministry’s transfer order, begging and weeping just to leave Yonggu City a few days early. Clearly, the recent encounter with the barbarian onslaught had utterly shattered his nerve.

The nation is in dire straits, and to think the Xuan Battalion was once handed to such a spineless rat! It seems the Yan Empire is truly beyond saving.

“Marshal, after Chen Yongzhong left the residence, he did not return to his own quarters, but instead went straight to the city gate, where his servants were already waiting, and set off for the capital.”

The report from his personal guard brought a bitter smile to Zhang Chaoyang’s face as he pondered.

That coward couldn’t even wait half a day. I told him to sneak out under cover of darkness, yet he brazenly flees in broad daylight. How am I to enforce discipline in Yonggu City from now on?

Now the entire city’s officers and soldiers know that the emperor’s brother-in-law deserted his post before the Ministry’s official order arrived—fleeing from battle! That’s a capital crime. But I suppose not a single court official will hold him to account.

With such wanton disregard for the law, what face does the imperial court retain? What of military discipline?

Enough. I’ll think of myself as nothing more than a mender of broken things, patching up the Yan Empire as best I can. Affairs at court are beyond the reach of a mere repairman.

Yonggu City’s position was exceptionally advantageous. Under normal circumstances, it was no great challenge for the Yan border army to hold the defensive line.

A decade ago, when the barbarians invaded in force, chasing and butchering the border army all the way, it was only at Yonggu City that the imperial troops, relying on the terrain, managed to halt their advance.

That battle forced the entire Yan defensive line to retreat dozens of miles, costing vast swathes of territory, but the new line anchored on Yonggu City proved far easier to defend than the original.

Ten miles outside Yonggu City, a ridge runs across the land, interrupted by a gorge over three hundred meters wide—like the mouth of a giant trumpet, with Yonggu City built at its opening.

The barbarians’ greatest strength was their lightning-fast, unstoppable cavalry, but the broken ridge effectively blocked their horse-dependent armies.

If the barbarians wished to break through the Yan defenses and pillage the heartland, they would have to face Yonggu City!

Despite such overwhelming advantages, the border armies of Yan suffered defeats year after year. Every three to five years, the barbarians would break through and raid the hinterlands—a tragedy of the times.

Before, when Chen Yongzhong took command of the Xuan Battalion, he sought to pad his resume and snatch glory by stationing the battalion outside the trumpet mouth, claiming he would take the offensive and teach the steppe barbarians a lesson.

Such absurdity went unchallenged in Yonggu City, even by Marshal Zhang Chaoyang himself, all because of Lady Chen’s unrivaled favor in the palace.

Normally, at this time of year, the steppes are thawing, grasslands reviving. The barbarians are busy tending their herds after a hard winter and have no leisure to launch large-scale raids.

No one was fooled by Chen Yongzhong’s little scheme, but all they could do was watch as he led the Xuan Battalion to loiter outside the trumpet mouth for a few days, then return to report his “victory.”

Even Marshal Zhang Chaoyang had no objection, save for concern that Chen might frame innocents to bolster his feats.

Among the border garrisons, there were many such wastrels seeking merit, but none played the game as brazenly or on such a grand scale as Chen Yongzhong!

All the other scions envied Chen’s good fortune in having such a powerful elder sister.

Such practices were already deeply rooted in the army, the very reason Zhang Chaoyang tacitly allowed Chen’s antics.

Once this greatest wastrel of the Yan Empire achieved his aim, Zhang Chaoyang planned to promptly memorialize the court, petitioning for recognition for this “young talent” who, for the first time in over a decade, dared to take the offensive.

The elder statesmen at court would no doubt cheerfully approve such unparalleled merit.

Then, Zhang Chaoyang could see the imperial brother-in-law off with full honors—buying, in exchange, a year when the border army’s supplies would be pilfered just a little less.

Yes, this farce unfolding under the eyes of all in Yonggu City had always been a transaction.

Every year, the army’s supplies and funds were a massive sum. Normally, once the paperwork passed through the civil bureaucracy, sixty percent of what should reach the frontier would simply vanish!

If the generals were not compliant, that loss might reach seventy or even eighty percent!

Though the Yan Empire remained relatively peaceful, and no bandit dared to seize the border army’s provisions, the supplies simply evaporated for no reason—it had long since become routine.

Old General Zhang Chaoyang, swallowing his pride, only hoped to ensure the supplies earmarked for the border army would shrink by just one tenth less.

Yet fate would not comply. From the imperial palace to the court, and down to Yonggu City, every actor in this charade was in place—only for the barbarians to refuse to follow the script devised by Lady Chen!

Chen Yongzhong, camped with the Xuan Battalion outside the trumpet mouth, even chased away the city’s regular scouts, claiming he feared they would reveal the presence of his “heroic” force—when in fact, he simply found them an eyesore, lest they spoil his long-prepared performance.

While Chen Yongzhong dreamed of manufacturing a grand victory, the barbarian army, suffering drought on the steppe, arrived ahead of schedule!

With the scouts dismissed, Yonggu City was left blind and deaf, so when the clamor of battle thundered outside the trumpet mouth, they actually thought the imperial brother-in-law’s “opera” was beginning.

By sheer luck, the Xuan Battalion, hardened by years under Song Ying’an’s command, had officers and men both courageous and quick-witted. When the barbarians struck without warning, the battalion, after a brief panic, responded swiftly and correctly, withstanding the first furious assault and then retreating in good order to the trumpet mouth.

The barbarians assumed their early ambush had been detected, and that the Yan army had deliberately sent out the formidable Xuan Battalion to lure them into a trap within the gorge, certain there must be an ambush waiting.

By this happy accident, Chen Yongzhong survived, and the Xuan Battalion escaped annihilation.

But for the three thousand men of the Xuan Battalion, safety was only temporary. The barbarians would soon see through their ruse, and then, on the open ground, their cavalry would charge—

In an instant, the torrent of horsemen would engulf the entire Xuan Battalion.

Three thousand brave young men, now facing imminent death. At this critical hour, Song Ying’an took command—and was filled with confidence!

“Pass down my orders—dig more horse traps before the lines, scatter iron caltrops everywhere, issue barbed wire to the assault troops. Sound the drums and raise my command banner high!”

Sitting in the marshal’s seat, Song Ying’an issued commands in rapid succession. Barbarian horsemen? Today, let me see if you can still run wild against the tricks my worthy brother devised!

“Report! The barbarian army is on the move—a great force of cavalry is charging toward us!”