Chapter 35: Once Conceived, It Must Be Born

Li Dong replied, “We have just left the city and are well aware of Zhi Shilang’s plans.”

“What does he intend to do to defeat us?” Zhang Xu Tuo was intrigued by this and pressed for details.

Li Dong stood up from his seat, bowed deeply to Zhang Xu Tuo, and said, “Zhi Shilang has only just seized Zhangqiu City. At this moment, flushed with success and possessing an army of a hundred thousand, he underestimates your twenty thousand men, my lord. He will surely send troops to attack rather than sit idly by and let the opportunity slip away.”

“To know yourself and your enemy is to guarantee victory in a hundred battles. Since they plan to attack our main camp, we must first make our preparations. We must guide the situation to our advantage, seize the momentum, and pin down the enemy’s elite so that they cannot support each other. In less than three days, their morale will falter and their fighting spirit wane. At that point, we can send a picked force to storm the city—Zhangqiu will be ours before long.”

Li Dong bowed once more. “I earnestly beseech you, my lord, to allow me to lead an assault on the eastern gate.”

Zhang Xu Tuo was not, as Jia Xing had described, a hotheaded man of mere courage and little sense. In fact, he was a man of great strategy; only his renowned exploits had overshadowed his wisdom in the eyes of outsiders. He was thoroughly versed in the art of war and instantly recognized the clarity and precision in Li Dong’s plan—it not only countered the enemy’s offensive but also provided an effective response. If executed as proposed, victory was assured.

Li Dong claimed that taking Zhangqiu would require three days, but Zhang Xu Tuo dared not agree lightly. The rations for his twenty thousand elite troops had all been carried from home and would last only three days—barely enough to stretch into a fourth, at which point his soldiers would have to fight on empty stomachs.

Now, with the first day already passed, only two remained. If Zhangqiu was not taken by the third day, retreat would be inevitable. Should the defenders sally forth at that point, the outcome would be obvious—a crushing defeat. This was the main reason Zhang Xu Tuo insisted on storming the city without delay; time would not wait for him.

Only Zhang Xu Tuo knew of the logistical constraints on his troops—this could not be discussed openly, not with so many young soldiers present. Were word to leak, morale would suffer even before the enemy struck. Worse, if Zhi Shilang discovered their predicament, he would simply hunker down and defend, leaving the government troops no opportunity. After three days, when the troops withdrew, the enemy would sally forth and Zhang Xu Tuo’s lifetime of glory would be lost.

“How confident are you that Zhangqiu can be taken within two days?” Zhang Xu Tuo asked.

Li Dong was momentarily at a loss for words. He glanced around at the other officers, each face full of expectation, and felt the weight of responsibility press down upon him. In such moments, caution was all the more necessary—one miscalculation now could multiply into disaster on the battlefield.

The memory of a donkey turning the millstone on the road yesterday came to him again: two great stones grinding grain between them, crushing it to flour as they turned. What crucial point was hidden in that scene, still just out of reach? If overlooked now, a small error could become a tenfold loss in battle. The greater the loss, the greater the chance his plan would be rejected.

If he led the attack at the eastern gate, he would be one millstone, Zhang Xu Tuo the other, and Zhangqiu the grain trapped between. If the force was applied correctly, the city would fall.

Millstone, millstone, millstone…

Unconsciously, Li Dong had risen from his seat and began to pace the tent, brow furrowed, muttering to himself, lost in thought. Immersed in the world of the grinding mill, he forgot all about his actual surroundings.

Everyone held their breath, not daring to interrupt his concentration. Zhang Xu Tuo, too, sank into deep thought, weighing the odds of other possible attacks. The command tent fell silent, as if frozen by a sorcerer’s spell.

Millstone… stone… hard as iron… That’s it!

Who knows how many times Li Dong circled the tent, wracking his brains, when suddenly a strange flash of insight struck him. He seized it as if it were a bolt of lightning, leapt high in excitement, and cried out, “I have it! Ha! I have it, I have it!”

Zhang Junke grinned and quipped, “If you have it, you’d better deliver—how many months along are you?”

His timely jest broke the tension, and the whole tent erupted in laughter.

Li Dong’s face shone with delight, his eyes bright as a child’s. Then, realizing his excitement had overcome him, he quickly reined in his joy and said, “So long as the enemy sallies out from Zhangqiu, we must engage them fiercely, delaying their return or, if possible, destroying as many as we can. This will strike fear into the enemy. And since both sides are attacking at once, the enemy will be thrown into confusion—within three days, their morale will collapse!”

This was the lesson Li Dong had drawn from the millstone: an iron force, relentless and unstoppable, would roll over the enemy without mercy. The key was to destroy the enemy’s fielded troops whenever possible and cow them with force.

Zhang Xu Tuo looked around and asked, “What about a feigned defeat?”

Li Dong smiled and replied, “That would not work.” Most of Zhi Shilang’s army consisted of commoners, driven to revolt by hardship. Their goal was not to die bravely in open battle but to survive, and if possible to live better than before.

They had never faced a real army. If the government troops fought with valor and no attacker ever returned alive to the city, Zhi Shilang’s men would be on the verge of psychological collapse. If going out meant certain death, none would dare venture forth again.

In other words, the outcome of the first battle would determine the fate of both sides.

The first battle must be won!

But how to ensure flawless victory in that crucial opening clash? That was the greatest challenge.

After all, the enemy’s numbers were five to one: a hundred thousand to just over twenty thousand.

Zhang Xu Tuo smiled slightly and said, “Let this tough bone be left to me to chew.”

Li Dong heard the unshakable confidence in his tone, as if he dismissed the defenders of Zhangqiu as mere trifles, and could not help but feel deep admiration. In his heart he thought: In times of peril, it is always the brave who hold the line. Zhang Xu Tuo had rampaged across the end of the Sui for more than a decade and had rarely tasted defeat. With him leading this hard assault, the odds of victory were much improved.

“We are all deeply impressed by your spirit, my lord!” Li Dong exclaimed in genuine admiration.

Du Fuwei and the others also expressed their respect for Zhang Xu Tuo; they knew he would not speak so boldly without absolute confidence.

At this time, Zhang Xu Tuo was a little over forty, while Li Dong, Du Fuwei, and their fellows were all around sixteen. Unconsciously, they regarded him as a hero and a father figure to emulate. Morale soared.

Li Dong, with Du Fuwei and a thousand men, and another three thousand elite troops assigned by Zhang Xu Tuo, broke camp at the west gate, circled past the south gate, and marched toward the eastern gate.

As they drew near the southern gate, Du Fuwei pointed to the wild hills and said with pride to Li Dong, “Before long, we’ll hide ourselves in there and control our own destiny, beholden to no one. General, consider well—wouldn’t it be better to vanish with us than to struggle on between two forces?”

Li Dong understood then that Du Fuwei’s resolve to go his own way was firm. He sighed, “To hide in the Great Wall Ridge is your destiny, but it is not my final resting place. Yet, in the days to come, you will face three major hurdles. If you cannot overcome them, there will be much trouble.”

Indeed, there were two bands of mountain brigands in the Great Wall Ridge, and internecine strife for survival was not unlikely. Yet how did Li Dong know this, having scarcely left Zhangqiu? Most importantly, what was this third hurdle? Du Fuwei, full of doubt, drew his horse alongside Li Dong’s, ready to seek his advice.