Chapter 148: A Tacit Understanding

Leigong Mountain, Li Yan's temporary headquarters.

Li Yan had already found an excuse to leave, leaving only Zhang Hoshang and Jing Maocheng in the headquarters. The desk was in a complete mess with empty cups and plates. Both of them were flushed with wine and reeked of alcohol. One of them was born a bandit and the other a highwayman, making them kindred spirits. After finishing a round of drinking, the two had already thrown their arms around each other's shoulders, becoming as close as blood brothers.

Finally, Jing Maocheng suggested that they become sworn brothers, and since Jing Maocheng was older, he became the elder brother.

"Brother," Jing Maocheng said affectionately, draping an arm over Zhang Hoshang's shoulder and looking at him sideways. "To be honest, you also started out as a highwayman, so you and the imperial army are simply not cut from the same cloth. I'm not trying to scare you, but if anything happens down the road, that fellow Wang Pu will definitely make a scapegoat out of you. However, if you bring your brothers and defect to Grand Commander Li, it will be a completely different story..."

"Brother, you're drunk," Zhang Hoshang said with a smile. "You must be drunk."

"Your brother is not drunk," Jing Maocheng said earnestly. "I'm talking to you about serious business, brother. If you can bring your thousand musketeers over here, Grand Commander Li can expand your musketeer unit into an artillery and firearms camp!"

"Ah, let's not talk about this, let's not talk about this," Zhang Hoshang shook his head. Although he was about half drunk, he still remembered what Wang Pu had told him, so he quickly changed the subject and said, "Let's drink, let's drink. Brother, tell me about your days as a mountain lord at Laoya Mountain. Have you ever thought about finding a chieftain's bride? Hehe..."

"A chieftain's bride? Never thought about it." Jing Maocheng shook his head, though the figure of Red Dame suddenly flashed through his mind. He picked up the wine jar and shook it, finding it empty, so he stood up and shouted, "Someone, bring more wine!"

"Oh my," Zhang Hoshang suddenly slapped his forehead and cried out, "Brother, we can't drink anymore. I have to head back today."

"How can that do?" Jing Maocheng said unhappily. "Since we became sworn brothers today, we must drink to our heart's content."

"Some other day," Zhang Hoshang said. "Today I still have to escort the horses and silver back to Datong, so I really can't drink anymore."

Seeing that Zhang Hoshang's mind was made up, Jing Maocheng did not insist further and said readily, "I'll have some men escort you."

"That would be wonderful," Zhang Hoshang said with great joy. "Once we reach Datong, little brother will drink with you to my heart's content."

Jing Maocheng said, "Then it's a deal."

A short while later, Jing Maocheng led two thousand cavalrymen to escort Zhang Hoshang's two thousand musketeers straight toward Datong.

When Zhang Hoshang's two thousand musketeers had arrived, they were infantry. Fearing interception by the Later Jin forces, they had sneaked out of the west gate under the cover of night. On the way back, however, these two thousand infantrymen had been converted into cavalry, accompanied and escorted by Jing Maocheng's two thousand horsemen. No longer fearing interception by the Later Jin, they swaggered all the way back to Datong.

At this point, the Later Jin forces had fallen into the predicament of having no horses to ride, so even if they wanted to intercept, they lacked the capability to do so.

That very evening, Jing Maocheng and his two thousand cavalrymen were all accommodated in the western city camp. Wang Pu had Zhang Hoshang host a lavish banquet within the camp to cordially entertain his sworn-brother rebels. By this time, the cooperation between Wang Pu and the roving bandits was blatant, and he no longer wished to conceal it from anyone.

The residence of Grand Eunuch Zhang Zian.

A young eunuch hurried into the warm chamber and reported to Zhang Zian, "Foster father, your son has found out everything clearly. The rebel leader Jing Maocheng has truly arrived at the western city camp with two thousand cavalrymen. Regional Commander Wang is currently having Zhang Hoshang host a grand banquet in the western city camp, wining and dining those rebels with the best food and drinks."

Zhang Zian's brow instantly furrowed, and he muttered to himself in a low voice, "Isn't the Prince Consort getting a bit too bold by doing this?"

"Foster father," the young eunuch asked in a lowered voice, "Could the Prince Consort be thinking of defecting to the rebels?"

"What do you know?" Zhang Zian's expression changed, and he scolded, "The Prince Consort's plans run deep. He knows that the imperial army inside Datong city cannot handle the Later Jin, so he needs to rely on the rebels. However... this is a major matter and cannot be kept from the Old Ancestor and His Majesty. Quick, this household will write a letter right now, and you must have someone send it via a six-hundred-li urgent courier straight to the capital to be presented in person to the Old Ancestor."

Datong, Regional Commander's Temporary Headquarters.

Zhen Youcai said to Wang Pu, "General, Hoshang's two thousand cavalry and Jing Maocheng's two thousand rebels marched swaggering all the way from Leigong Mountain to the western city camp, yet the Later Jin didn't even dispatch any cavalry to intercept them. Moreover, over the past few days, the Later Jin forces have constantly been contracting, successively pulling back their troops from the southern and eastern city camps into the northern city camp. All these signs indicate that the Later Jin have truly taken the bait!"

Wang Pu said, "This was to be expected."

Zhen Youcai said, "It seems the timing for a decisive battle with the Later Jin has matured."

Wang Pu said, "Indeed, it is time."

Zhen Youcai said, "General, how do you plan to fight this battle?"

Wang Pu said, "Even without their warhorses, the Later Jin still number thirty thousand. Therefore, this battle must be fought in cooperation with Li Yan; otherwise, even if we win, we will suffer heavy casualties."

Zhen Youcai said, "But this time is different from the past. Once the Later Jin are destroyed, we and the rebels will become opponents again. This is a decisive battle against the Later Jin—will that fellow Li Yan still help us?"

Wang Pu said, "He will, he certainly will."

The next day.

Jing Maocheng returned to Leigong Mountain with two thousand cavalrymen, also bringing back a personal letter written by Wang Pu to Li Yan.

Li Yan's temporary headquarters.

Li Yan waved the letter in his hand and said to Li Hu, Li Xuan, and Jing Maocheng, "Wang Pu states in his letter that the batch of horse feed stolen by the Later Jin last time was poisoned by him, and now all the Later Jin warhorses have been brought down by the poison. The imperial army is preparing to wage a decisive battle against the Later Jin tomorrow and invites us to deploy our forces together."

"First Brother, let's ignore him," Li Hu said. "Since the Later Jin's warhorses have been poisoned, we should take this opportunity to return to Mizhi and let the imperial army and the Later Jin tear each other apart."

Li Yan asked Li Xuan and Jing Maocheng, "What are the two generals' opinions?"

Li Xuan thought for a moment and said, "Grand Commander, this subordinate actually feels this is a fine opportunity."

Li Yan said happily, "Oh, let's hear it."

Li Xuan said, "If the Later Jin lose their warhorses, they are like fierce tigers that have lost their claws and fangs, and they are no longer anything to be feared. Grand Commander, this is a rare opportunity to train our troops. Even rarer, we get to use the Later Jin as training targets. If we can truly knock the Later Jin flat, the brothers will gain boundless confidence and high morale."

Li Xuan's words struck a chord in Li Yan's heart; this truly was a rare opportunity for troop training.

If they could genuinely defeat the Later Jin on a frontal battlefield, the confidence and morale of the rebel soldiers would be vastly elevated. This kind of training effect could never be achieved by training behind closed doors—it had to be forged through the trials of iron and blood.

Li Hu said, "But First Brother, what if the imperial army stabs us in the back after wiping out the Later Jin?"

Li Yan said, "They won't. Wang Pu would not do such a thing."

By now, through Wang Pu's unbridled actions, Li Yan had already figured out his true intentions. Wang Pu completely disregarded imperial regulations and had twice intervened to help the rebel forces tide over their crises. Wanting to rely on the rebels to pin down the Later Jin was only one reason; another reason was to harbor bandits in order to maintain his own importance and power.

As long as Li Yan's rebel forces operated in Shaanxi and Shanxi, Wang Pu could justifiably remain in Datong and act as his own local emperor.

Li Xuan also said, "Even if the imperial army wants to stab us in the back, it won't be that easy."

A fierce glint flashed in Li Hu's eyes as he suddenly said, "First Brother, when the imperial army and the Later Jin are locked in fierce combat tomorrow, wouldn't it be even better if we hit them hard from behind and clean up both the Later Jin and the imperial army at once?"

"Nonsense!" Li Yan's expression darkened, and he shouted sternly, "Huzi, are you trying to turn your First Brother into an ungrateful, faithless villain?"

Li Hu argued, "First Brother, all is fair in war."

"Shut up," Li Yan rebuked sharply. "Do not bring this up again."

Li Hu let out a muffled snort, not daring to say anything more. The matter of deploying troops tomorrow was thus settled.

Li Yan's vision was naturally something Li Hu could not compare to. Li Hu only knew that Wang Pu was an officer of the imperial army and a mortal enemy of the rebels, so he wanted to find every possible way to eliminate Wang Pu. Li Yan, however, had keenly perceived that Wang Pu was different from Hong Chengchou, Sun Chuanting, and Yang Changsi. Hong Chengchou and those men were the lackeys of the imperial court and true enemies of the rebels, but Wang Pu was not.

Wang Pu was not a lackey of the Great Ming Dynasty. Though nominally the Regional Commander of Datong, he was in reality a separatist warlord!

Having a regional warlord like Wang Pu guarding Datong brought only benefits and no harm to the Shaanxi rebels. Since Wang Pu's existence was beneficial to the rebels, why should they destroy him?

Although Wang Pu and Li Yan had never sat down to talk, the two of them had already formed an unspoken tacit understanding while jointly fighting the Later Jin. Li Yan would help Wang Pu act as a solid local warlord of Datong, while Wang Pu would provide the Shaanxi rebels with necessary aid. On the surface they were enemies, but behind the scenes they were friends.

Datong, Regional Commander's temporary headquarters.

Zhen Youcai said with no little worry, "General, do you think Li Yan might kick us when we're down while we're locked in fierce combat with the Later Jin and launch a sneak attack from behind?"

"No," Wang Pu shook his head. "Li Yan is a smart man. He can definitely sense our goodwill. With me, Wang Pu, guarding Datong, it only brings benefits to him and the Shaanxi rebels."

Zhen Youcai thought for a moment and still said, "General, there is something this subordinate doesn't know whether to say or not."

Wang Pu said, "Is there anything between you and me that cannot be spoken of?"

Zhen Youcai said, "General, Li Yan is no simple character. Aren't you afraid of nursing a tiger that will eventually turn on you?"

"Hahaha..." Wang Pu laughed heartily. "Even if Li Yan really is a fierce tiger, he cannot bite us right now. Even if we need to worry about nursing a tiger that turns on us, it's not yet our turn to fret."

Zhen Youcai's expression shifted, and he realized with a start, "This subordinate understands."

Wang Pu chuckled softly and said in a low voice, "This is called taking precautions. Cooperating with a formidable character like Li Yan requires constant caution; otherwise, you won't even know how you died in the end."

Zhen Youcai said, "General, then how should this decisive battle tomorrow be fought?"

Wang Pu said, "In tomorrow's decisive battle against the Later Jin, we can only deploy our four thousand musketeers to participate in the attack. The remaining three thousand border troops must stay behind to defend the city."

"What about Li Yan?"

"Li Yan should dispatch all eight thousand of his cavalry to participate in the attack. That means the combined forces of our army and the rebels will only be twelve thousand men, which still puts us at an absolute numerical disadvantage compared to the Later Jin. However, the Later Jin side is not monolithic either; once the battle goes poorly, those Mongol cavalrymen will definitely be the first to flee."

Zhen Youcai said, "I'm just afraid the rebels' eight thousand cavalry won't come in handy."

Wang Pu said, "We never counted on the rebels' eight thousand cavalry playing a huge role to begin with. As long as they protect our flanks, and as long as our flanks are not counter-attacked by the Later Jin, the four thousand brothers of the firearms camp plus two mortars will be more than enough to breach the Later Jin camp."

Zhen Youcai said, "But if that's the case, this decisive battle can only be fought as a rout. By then, Li Yan's eight thousand cavalry will seize the opportunity and pursue the fleeing enemy. The Later Jin weapons, armor, and the like will all become the rebels' spoils of war. The rebels won't have expended any effort yet will get to pick up so much loot for free—that's letting them off way too easily."

"It doesn't matter," Wang Pu said. "We only want the Later Jin warhorses; those are the true treasures. As for those other pieces of junk, the rebels can pick up whatever they like."

Leigong Mountain, Li Yan's temporary headquarters.

After Li Xuan, Li Hu, and Jing Maocheng had all left, Red Dame asked softly, "My husband, the imperial army is going to have a decisive battle with the Later Jin tomorrow. Have you really decided to deploy troops to help them?"

"Of course," Li Yan said. "Why wouldn't I deploy troops?"

Red Dame asked uncomprehendingly, "Does sending troops really benefit our rebel army?"

"There are many benefits," Li Yan said patiently. "Firstly, we can train our troops; secondly, we can capture a massive amount of weapons, armor, grain, and military supplies. With these weapons and armor, we can equip more rebel soldiers. Furthermore, your husband wants to take this opportunity to test the bottom line of Wang Pu's firearms camp and see how they actually fight battles."