Tang Tishou waved a hand. “Has the county commandant discovered anything?”
Fuchuan County had more than two thousand guards. If he had not noticed something amiss, the appearance of several hundred Jinyang troops would not have caused the county commandant to send such an urgent plea for help.
The soldier said, “The Jinyang troops who came to the salt works this time are completely different. I hear every one of them is equipped with repeating crossbows, and their combat strength is extraordinarily formidable.”
“The county commandant fears there may be a deception involved, and that their objective is not limited to the salt works. That is why he sent me here first to report to you.”
Rong Liang frowned. “Did none of your patrols in Fuchuan spot the Jinyang troops?”
The soldier shook his head. “No. That is why the county commandant suspects they came by water.”
The Fuchuan salt works were located right by the sea. If the enemy came ashore under cover of night, how could the patrols possibly have noticed them?
Rong Liang pondered. “If the Jinyang troops did come by water, it does seem unlikely that only this many men would have come. But what is their purpose in attacking the salt works?”
“If they came for the salt, they will likely leave after taking it. But if their target is Fuchuan County, then Fuchuan may already be…”
Zhu Dian shook his head. “If Fuchuan is their target, they would not be likely to come by water. How many people can a ship carry? A city cannot be taken with only a few thousand men.”
Tang Tishou felt a faint unease in his heart. “The Jinyang troops possess repeating crossbows. We cannot judge them by ordinary standards. Caution is paramount.”
“Raise five thousand men at once. Zhu Dian, you will command them. Hurry to Fuchuan and provide support.” He looked toward Zhu Dian as he issued the order.
Rong Liang said worriedly, “General, what if this is a diversion meant to lure our troops away?”
Tang Tishou drew his brows together. “You fear the Jinyang troops will attack Dan City?”
Rong Liang nodded. “That possibility cannot be ruled out. We have only a little over twenty thousand troops in Donghu Commandery. If we send soldiers to Fuchuan and the Jinyang troops attack Dan City…”
Of those twenty thousand or so troops, roughly ten thousand were stationed at the main military camp, while the rest were scattered throughout the various counties. Dan County in particular was closest to Shanguan County and had always been on guard against the Jinyang troops.
If they dispatched troops now and the Jinyang army launched a surprise attack on Dan City, the number of soldiers the main camp could send out would be cut in half, leaving them in an extremely passive position.
Tang Tishou lowered his head and pondered. After a moment, he shook his head. “Dan City has five or six thousand defenders, and extensive fortifications have been built outside the walls to impede the enemy. It will not be easy for the Jinyang troops to take it.”
He looked toward Zhu Dian. “Go. Finish the battle quickly.”
However, just as Zhu Dian had finished assembling the troops and was preparing to set out, several riders came galloping toward the camp.
“Report! The Jinyang troops have launched a night raid on Fuchuan County!”
Tang Tishou was shocked. “Quick, let them in and have them report!”
Before long, several soldiers hurried inside. The moment they saw him, they fell to their knees.
“General, the Jinyang troops raided Fuchuan. The magistrate, assistant magistrate, and county commandant have all been killed.”
Everyone in the hall cried out in alarm. “What?”
Tang Tishou shot to his feet. “What did you say?!”
The soldier wiped the blood and sweat from his face. “It’s true. When we fled the city, the Jinyang troops had already entered. By now, Fuchuan is probably…”
“Besides us, some civil officials and commoners fled as well. They are slower, though, and will not arrive at Heichun County until later.”
The commoners he referred to were the nobles and ordinary people of Quzhao.
Tang Tishou nearly stumbled and fell. “Quick! Have the scouts been sent out?”
Zhu Dian hurriedly replied, “A group of scouts was sent out earlier.”
Not long after the first soldier’s report, they had dispatched a team of scouts to investigate the situation so that they could formulate a battle plan.
Tang Tishou suppressed the unease in his heart. “Send out another team to scout the area.”
Zhu Dian hesitated. “General, should I still set out?”
Tang Tishou shook his head. “Stay calm. If Fuchuan has already fallen into the hands of the Jinyang troops, five thousand soldiers will not be enough to take it back.”
There would be value in sending reinforcements only if Fuchuan had not yet fallen.
Now that the Jinyang troops had entered the city, their forces would effectively be attacking a fortified city.
Even without the repeating crossbows, taking a city with only a few thousand men would be extraordinarily difficult.
Tang Tishou’s expression turned grim as he looked at the soldier kneeling on the ground. “How many Jinyang troops came? How was Fuchuan taken so quickly?”
The soldier remained on his knees, his body still trembling. “I don’t know. There should… there should be several thousand.”
“Several thousand? And several thousand men took Fuchuan so easily?” Zhu Dian shouted furiously.
The soldier trembled and did not dare to speak.
Rong Liang’s gaze darkened. “It seems the Jinyang troops intend to swallow the entire Donghu Commandery—and they have already begun.”
By now, no one was still questioning whether the Jinyang troops possessed the strength to do so.
Setting aside the three counties of Gefeng, the fact that the Jinyang troops had seized Lin County by force from the Grand General alone was enough to reveal their combat prowess.
The commander clenched his teeth fiercely. “General, should we report this to the Grand General?”
Rong Liang shook his head. “The Grand General is attacking Ze’a Commandery, and the battle is at a critical juncture. He likely cannot spare any troops.”
Zhu Dian thought for a moment, then suggested, “Should we inform the Great Chanyu instead?”
Rong Liang sighed. “Of course we must inform the Great Chanyu, but he probably does not have many troops to spare either. For now, all we can hope is that the Grand General moves quickly and takes Ze’a Commandery as soon as possible.”
The fighting had not yet begun in Wuqin, but Lin County and Daqing Commandery were already watching it like tigers eyeing their prey. They did not dare spread their forces too thin.
Tang Tishou practically ground his back teeth to dust. “The Jinyang troops certainly know how to seize an opportunity!”
He closed his eyes briefly. “Once the scouts have clarified the situation, send a letter to the Great Chanyu.”
By dawn, the battle at Xianglu County had finally ended.
Breathing in the scent of blood lingering in the air, Yao Ji looked toward the slowly rising morning light in the east, a relaxed smile appearing on his face.
He strode down from the city wall and headed toward the county government office.
Zhao Feng hurried over. “People from the docks have arrived. The civil officials are here.”
Whenever Jiang Jin attacked a city, he always brought civil officials with him so they could quickly take control of the county and pacify the populace.
However, a night raid was dangerous, so the civil officials had been kept aboard the ships this time. Only after Xie Nanxiao had completely secured the docks did they have the ships put in and send the officials separately to Fuchuan and Xianglu.
Yao Ji said, “Have them come directly to the county office.”
Zhao Feng continued with his report. “Tonight, we killed more than nineteen hundred enemy soldiers. Around several hundred escaped, and more than six hundred were captured. Most of those were Han slaves…”
There were two reasons the Jinyang troops had not annihilated all the Quzhao forces this time.
First, the Jinyang army did not have many soldiers, while the defenders outnumbered the attackers. Under such circumstances, it was impossible to encircle the city, so they could only focus on breaking through at key points.
Without the support of the repeating crossbows and the strategy of a night raid, victory in this battle would have been virtually impossible.
Second, they had deliberately left an opening for the Quzhao soldiers to escape, preventing them from being forced into a desperate last stand and fighting to the death.
Their objective this time had been very clear: to take the city!
After listening to Zhao Feng’s report, Yao Ji nodded and instructed him, “Find the farmers living near Xianglu County as quickly as possible and bring them all back into the city.”
“You can question the townspeople to determine where the farmland is located and how many Quzhao soldiers are stationed there.”
It was currently the busy season of spring plowing, and most of the farmers had already begun working the fields—under Quzhao’s enslavement, of course.
Zhao Feng acknowledged the order. “Understood. I’ll make the arrangements at once.”
At the Heichun County military camp, Tang Tishou had not yet received any information from the scouts when soldiers fleeing from Xianglu County arrived instead.
“What did you say?” Tang Tishou braced himself against the desk, afraid that one unsteady move would send him sprawling to the floor.
The soldier’s voice broke with tears. “General, Xianglu County is lost—it’s been taken by the Jinyang army!”
