Book 22 Chapter 8 – Strange Tactic To Subdue The Enemy

At noon, everybody abandoned the ships and disembarked at the eastern bank of Ju River. They hid the seven ships in a tributary of the River, and took their horses to hide into a dense woods near the riverbank. While the horses were resting and eating grass, Kou Zhong, Xu Ziling, Luo Fang, Bai Wenyuan, and Xuan Yong, five men left first to scout the enemy situation.

Dong Jingzhen’s ten-thousand-man elite troops were stationed only five li upstream from the place they disembarked. Several landing docks were built along the Ju River, and moored on these docks were more than a dozen battleships. Close to shore were three main wooden strongholds, for Xiao Xian, Zhu Can, and Cao Yinglong, respectively, the three factions’ troops.

The positioning of their garrisons was indeed very strategic and impeccable; it was close to both the water and land major routes, not only it would enable them to rapidly provide assistance to the attacking troops toward Yuan’an and Dangyang, they would also be able to intercept Kou Zhong’s Shaoshuai Army, either by water or land.

The five men felt a very big headache.

Disappointed, Bai Wenyuan said, “Although I was clear about the situation in here, I didn’t know they would be divided into three strongholds on separate hills. Watchtowers standing in great numbers are not the problem, but they also flattened the nearby trees, so that in attacking one faction’s stronghold, no sound can be hidden, no risk can be avoided.”

Frowning, Xuan Yong said, “These three wooden strongholds are extraordinarily sturdy, the defense inside and outside the fort are adequate; just by releasing arrows from the battlement holes, they can smash our attack. If we had more time, we could use battle equipment to attack the fort, but now we are unable to do anything.”

Distressed, Kou Zhong said, “If we cannot break the enemy tonight, tomorrow we cannot hide from the enemy’s spies. The biggest headache is that our military strength is already inadequate to attack one stronghold, forget about attacking the three forts at the same time. Looks like we can only use deceit.”

Xu Ziling patted Luo Fang’s shoulder and said with a smile, “Xiongdi, I am afraid we will have to wrong you!”

A sailboat appeared from the tributary, braving the darkness going upstream in the direction of the enemy’s stronghold.

Everybody was standing on the observation deck, looking into the distance at the terrain on both banks.

This evening the moon was casting its light directly onto their faces, shrouding the mountain forest near and far in its golden light. Even without any lantern, everything could be clearly seen.

Naturally Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling had their masks on to hide their real identity. The former sighed and said, “Next time we are using ambushing troops to attack the enemy, we must plan it not to happen on the full moon. Like right now, there is not much difference to mounting a sneak attack during the daytime.”

Xu Ziling asked Bai Wenyuan, “In Bai Xiong’s knowledge, is it possible that Chen Wu of Jiujiang would use a homing pigeon or something like that to notify Dong Jingzhen one step ahead that we are going to take a prisoner for him?”

Muttering to himself irresolutely, Bai Wenyuan replied, “That possibility is surely quite high; while naturally homing pigeons do not know how to fly here, but they could fly to Yiling, and then the information can be sent here using fast horse.”

Kou Zhong said, “We’ll find out really soon. Come!”

Calm and unhurried, Bai Wenyuan personally operated the signal lantern to notify the two skiffs coming to meet them.

After the three boats met, the two skiffs turned around and piloted them toward the place where they should dock.

Before they even cast their anchor, a high-ranking military officer from Baling Army jumped aboard, saluted to Bai Wenyuan, and said, “Bai Jiangjun, how are you? Xiao Jiang Lei Youshi. Dong Shuai already knew you are coming, but did not know it would be this soon.” [Translator’s note: interesting fact, Lei Youshi means thunder is starting.]

Laying down the load on his mind, Bai Wenyuan laughed and said, “Such an urgent matter, naturally we’d do everything in our power to come quickly to deliver the prisoner. Any news about those two small thieves?”

That Baling Army’s Deputy General called Lei Youshi replied, “We received news today that by using some tricks, those two small thieves turned Rong Fengxiang’s Bai Ye General Assembly upside down and in complete shambles. Um, didn’t Bai Jiangjun come from there? You ought to have clearer knowledge about this.”

Bai Wenyuan cheerfully said, “This matter is unusually complicated, we’ll talk in details after I make my appearance. How about Lei Xiong come to our side’s fort to chat after we hand over the prisoner to DongShuai?”

Smiling bitterly, Lei Youshi said, “I am on duty tonight; how about tomorrow night? Those two small thieves have always appeared and disappeared unpredictably [orig. gods appear and devils vanish]; even Li Mi, Yuwen Huaji, Li Zitong, and the others are not their match, it won’t do if I don’t have twelve awake-spirits.”

A bizarre feeling rose up in Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling’s hearts.

It was not polite words, but it came from the enemy’s mouth, heartfelt words full of wariness; it could clearly be seen that their names had intimidated the world, no wonder Xiao Xian, Zhu Can and Cao Yinglong were so active in plotting against them, and attached more importance to them rather than the Flying Horse Ranch.

The hull shuddered slightly, the shipped was docked.

“Bring the prisoner out!” Bai Wenyuan shouted.

Immediately someone pushed Luo Fang out and handed him over to Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling, who took their positions on his left and right, as they walked down the ship. On the surface Luo Fang looked like he had been beaten pretty bad; not only his clothes were tattered, there were streaks of dried blood and some bruising on his face as well.

The others remained on board the ship.

Leading the way, Lei Youshi casually commented, “Your ship seems to be riding low on the water, it must be filled with goods.”

Walking behind, Kou, Xu and Lou, three men were secretly startled, but Bai Wenyuan nonchalantly laughed and said, “Lei Xiong’s eyesight is indeed formidable; the entire hold is full of rice grain, it would be strange indeed if it weren’t low. If not for the tail wind, we would not have arrived here this quickly.”

Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling exchanged a glance; they both could see the brilliance of this answer. With these few sentences, Bai Wenyuan successively resolved several issues; not only he was praising Lei Youshi, he also addressed the heavy load of the ship, and most importantly he explained the tail wind, which enabled them to arrive swiftly, and thus dismissed the other party’s misgivings.

Arriving on shore, a group of more than twenty Baling Army’s troops escorted them, in front and behind, as they walked toward the Baling Army’s stronghold.

Lei Youshi looked back at the hanging-his-head-dispiritedly Luo Fang, and spoke in a low voice, “This kid seemed to have received some sufferings from Bai Jiangjun; what’s his name? And what kind of useful information did he bring?”

Bai Wenyuan was waiting precisely for these questions; delighted, he replied, “This kid is called Luo Fang, an important figure of Fu Zhishi [deputy manager, see Book 9 Chapter 4] level within the Flying Horse Ranch. He was on his way to see those two small thieves to ask for help, but was returning alone earlier to inform Shang Xiuxun about the grand plan concerning the counteroffensive against us. Tell me, do you think this is a useful information?”

Emotionally moved, Lei Youshi said, “That is indeed an extremely important information; Bai Jiangjun is really resourceful.”

Bai Wenyuan responded gloomily, “It was none other than that set of old tricks, nobody’s mouth is stronger than those malicious torture.”

Lei Youshi shouted to a Baling Army soldier in front of him, “Run to notify Dong Shuai: Bai Jiangjun has an extremely important information to be reported immediately.”

Accepting the order the soldier ran away.

Lei Youshi suddenly smiled evilly, “The day before yesterday we caught a group of village girls in the neighboring villages, among them there are two whose appearance is fairly beautiful, is Bai Jiangjun interested?”

Murderous intent immediately flashed through Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling’s eyes.

Bai Wenyuan laughed and said, “Let’s set them aside for Lei Xiong’s enjoyment! I just came back from Hefei. Ha! Lei Xiong ought to know what I am talking about!”

Greatly delighted, Lei Youshi said, “Understand! Understand! Ay! Living in wild, mountainous country is indeed too dry and maddening.”

This moment the entourage turned uphill along the sloping path leading toward the mountain stronghold; they saw on both sides of the road three layers of trenches to trap horses, full of sharp thorns in the inside. Seeing this, Kou Zhong and the others cried ‘lucky!’ inwardly.

Were it not for this brilliant scheme of entering by deceit, with less than a force of two thousand men attacking three separate wooden forts with tens of thousands men inside, it would be like a moth throwing itself into a flame, or like using a praying mantis’ arm to block a chariot.

The commander tent was brightly lit.

Dong Jingzhen was sitting in the commander chair, on his left and right stood four high-ranking military officers, all were unable to take their eyes off Luo Fang, who was being dragged into the tent.

Dong Jingzhen looked to be around forty years old, tall and thin, with square face and big ears, and distinct lines on his face, his chin was protruding, his eyebrows and hair thick, his overall appearance was bold and powerful.

Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling shouted at the same time, “Kneel!”

Luo Fang shook for a moment, as if his legs suddenly went weak, he dropped on his knees, with head hung low; his acting was so good that even Kou Zhong, Xu Ziling, and Bai Wenyuan could not see any flaw.

Apart from Lei Youshi, the other guards did not follow inside the tent.

Dong Jingzhen laughed aloud and said, “Bai Jiangjun could extract such an important military intelligence from this kid’s mouth, you have rendered great merit to the coalition forces, it is worthy of celebration.”

Bai Wenyuan turned toward Kou and Xu, two men, and ordered, “You wait outside the tent.”

Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling loudly acknowledge the order, turned around and out of the tent.

This command tent was located in the center of the wooden stronghold, surrounded by large empty space, with all the other tents located fifty paces away. There were eight guards standing around the tent.

The twenty some soldiers who came with Lei Youshi were standing on the path, ready to get out of the fort and return to the crossing dock.

The two boys ran after them, and walked toward the stronghold’s gate.

All the officers and soldiers within the camp were already in their tents to rest and sleep, only those who were on guard duty remained outside to patrol the fort. Except for the wind lanterns illuminating the main paths connecting all four stronghold gates, the camp was dark. Under the bright moon, the tents looked like mounds of steamed buns growing out of the ground.

There were more than ten soldiers standing on guard at the gate, four of whom were serving on sentry duty on the watchtowers rising approximately two zhang high on either side of the fort gate. But because nobody could have imagined that the enemy has arrived, the alert level was very low, the vigilance was slacking.

As the guards saw the group of soldiers, they hastily opened one side of the gate to let them pass.

Xuan Yong and the others came following the ship; five hundred elite troops were crowding in the hold of the ship. They have already taken care of the Baling Army soldiers at the crossing dock.

They also secured the area for the arrival of the men and horses from their side. Xuan Yong personally led more than a dozen men with superior qinggong to hide at the foot of the hill nearest the trenches of horse trap. This moment, seeing the fort’s gate opened, they quickly pounced out.

The guards on the watchtowers were the first to find out, but as they were about to shout, Kou Zhong soared up, while releasing a series of flying blades. Four guards grunted miserably, and turned into muddleheaded ghosts.

Xu Ziling moved at the same time; like a tiger entering a flock of sheep, he brandished his fists, one after another the guards at the gate fell to the ground, without even had any chance to utter any word.

Kou Zhong took a breath midair and somersaulted toward the gate. Together with Xuan Yong and his men rushing over, with the speed of lightning they took care of the Baling Army, who were about to rush out of the fort to help their comrades.

In a few blinks of the eye, the secure-as-a-city-protected-by-a-wall-of-metal-and-a-moat-of-boiling-water stronghold gate has already fallen into their control.

After meeting up with Xuan Yong and his men, Kou Zhong gave his order, “Clean up the patrol and guards on the watchtowers first, lest they send out an alarm.”

Responding to his order, the men spread out.

The rest of Shaoshuai Army rushed over from the crossing dock.

Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling reached out to grab each other’s hand to congratulate each other, they both felt lucky.

Although there were more than four thousand Baling troops inside the stronghold, all they could do was to wait for the slaughter.

After making adequate preparation and ensuring good coordination, Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling took twenty Shaoshuai troops, who had changed into Baling Army uniform, to return to the command tent.

As the guards around the command tent saw them left but came back, especially with Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling on the lead, they were surprised.

Taking advantage while their attention was focused on Kou Zhong and his men, Xuan Yong and his men rushed out from their hiding, swift as lightning they subdued the guards.

They heard Dong Jingzhen’s laughter from inside the tent, “Luo Xiongdi certainly know how to be tactful. Since you are willing to rely on our side’s help, I can guarantee you future’s riches and honor, glory and splendor, and boundless good fortune for your offspring.”

Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling lifted up the tent’s curtain and stepped in.

While Dong Jingzhen and the others turned their eyes toward them in shock, Bai Wenyuan and Luo Fang suddenly made their move to attack the men closest to them. Kou Zhong’s Moon in the Well left its scabbard and turned into a streak of yellow light, hacking onto Dong Jingzhen, whose weapon was still lying on the side.

Xu Ziling sent out double punches across empty air, attacking the two high-ranking military officers at Dong Jingzhen’s left and right.

For a period of time saber ray and sword shadow pervaded the air in the tent.

Dong Jingzhen was an outstanding figure as well; even in shock and facing death, he did not panic. Throwing himself backward, the tumbled and rolled out of the tent. Although he managed to evade Kou Zhong’s shocking-the-heaven-moving-the-earth saber strike, he could not dodge Xuan Yong’s Bird Beak Strike and more than a dozen sabers and swords coming right up on him. Immediately blood rushed out from the many wounds on his body. Were it not for his profound and powerful true qi protecting his body, plus he immediately soared up to the sky to get away, he would have died on the spot.

The Moon in the Well was like a shadow attached to his figure; it chopped down on him head-on.

Dong Jingzhen roared; his right palm swept across the Moon in the Well’s blade, with exquisite-beyond-compare move to save his life.

Vortex of energy burst into his body via his palm.

One was seizing the opportunity to strike with all his strength, the other was facing an attack in a hurry after he was injured in the battle; the difference was like heaven and earth, cloud and mud.

Dong Jingzhen’s entire body shook; curling into a ball, he rolled unnaturally backward, blood did not stop spurting out of his mouth, until finally he lay spread-eagled on the ground, and could only gasp for breath.

Xu Ziling pounced out of the tent, and said with a laugh, “All clear!”

Sweeping his gaze around, Kou Zhong saw that the men in the tents nearby have been awakened by the sound of the fighting. Tearing off his mask, he shouted, “Drop down to the ground; those who resist will be killed without mercy!”

Everybody followed the order.

Kou Zhong shot a glance at Dong Jingzhen, whose hands and feet were being tied by his men using cowhide rope; he turned toward Xu Ziling and said with a sigh, “Ling Shao ought to know that I have no other choice; on the battlefield, it is either you kill me or I kill you. Don’t forget that they have already done too big of a damage to such a small place.”

Smiling ruefully, Xu Ziling said, “I did not blame you, no need to say it with that many words. Come!”

And he took off ahead of Kou Zhong.

It couldn’t really be considered a battle at all.

Because Dong Jingzhen and a lot of high-ranking military officers were captured first, the Baling Army, who had just been awakened from sleep, was like a dragon without a head. One after another they surrendered, saving Kou Zhong from the sin of having to kill a lot of people.

By the second watch of the night [between 21:00 – 23:00 (i.e. 9-11pm)], the entire wooden stronghold has fallen into Kou Zhong’s hands, so that they were able to proceed to the second phase of their plan.

Kou Zhong, Xu Ziling, and Bai Wenyuan, holding the crestfallen Dong Jingzhen in custody, along with more than forty of their men disguised as Dong Jingzhen’s personal guards, galloped their horses toward the other wooden stockade, under the command of Zhu Can’s other great general, Wen Liang, followed by Xuan Yong’s thousand-man Shaoshuai Army. Luo Fang and the other several hundred men stayed behind to guard the wooden fort.

The group rode at full speed, and reached the Garuda Army’s wooden stockade, which was only half a li away. Reaching the gate, they shouted at the guards, “Dong Jingzhen Da Shuai [great commander] has urgent matter to discuss with Wen Shuai [Commander Wen], we have information on Shaoshuai Army’s whereabouts.”

Bai Wenyuan also shouted, “It’s me! Open the gate and let us in.”

Naturally the guards did not know it was a ruse, since they saw Dong Jingzhen, and the high-ranking military officer from their own side, Bai Wenyuan, they opened the gate while sending someone to run to notify Wen Liang, who was asleep in his tent.

The gate was barely opened when the group swarmed in, and immediately killed everybody within their sight. For a short while battle cry shook the heavens, rousing the officers and soldiers inside the camp from their beautiful dream.

Like a tidal wave Xuan Yong and his men came pouring into the stronghold, setting fire everywhere, and destroying everything in their path.

Very soon the entire wooden stronghold has been engulfed in the raging inferno. The confused Garuda Army could only run toward the other gates and flee into the wilderness.

Cao Yinglong’s bandit army came to provide assistance, but they were caught by the ambushing Shaoshuai Army and were beaten to a sorry state; they also fled the stronghold in disorder.

By daybreak, the coalition forces of three sides’ elite troops had ceased to exist.