Chapter Nine: The Lure and the Bait

Bulugen had fled. Seeing the overwhelming strength of the Tang army, the Turkic garrison at Red Mountain Fort found themselves in a dilemma. Seizing this opportunity, Duan Zhigan roared, "Charge!"

Over a thousand Tang infantrymen, bolstered by the morale from Luo Shixin’s resounding victory, launched an uphill assault on Red Mountain Fort. The Turkic soldiers guarding the fort stared at one another in panic. "What do we do?"

Though the Turks were fierce by nature, they were, in truth, bullies who preyed on the weak and feared the strong. In battles where they held the advantage, they were valiant, but when faced with a conflict where victory was clearly out of reach, they were as timid as mice.

As the Tang infantry drew closer, the ferocious expressions on their faces became clearly visible. Suddenly, the commander of the Red Mountain Fort garrison (equivalent to a centurion) looked toward the distant, retreating banners of Bulugen and bellowed, "The Tang slaves are too powerful! General Bulugen is in danger; we must go and protect him!"

Bulugen had long since vanished into the distance; if they were to rely on these men for protection, they would have lost their lives ten times over. It was an obvious lie, yet all the Turkic soldiers unanimously agreed: "Protect General Bulugen!"

When Duan Zhigan rushed into the empty Red Mountain Fort, he finally let out a sigh of relief. While the fort was small, its size made it easy to defend and difficult to attack. Had the Turks not retreated voluntarily, capturing this stronghold—which spanned only about four hundred paces—would likely have cost hundreds of lives.

The fort had been built with a mixture of glazed stone and glutinous rice mortar; it had stood for over a century and remained incredibly sturdy. The Turks had left in such a rush that they hadn't even managed to take their wolf-head standard with them. Looking at the mountains of grain stacked in the various warehouses, Duan Zhigan trembled with rage.

The bags of grain were stained with dark purple marks—it didn't take a genius to know these were dried bloodstains. This grain had certainly been plundered from the villages surrounding Lingzhou; it was tainted with the blood of the Tang people.

"Damn those thieves, they ran too fast! Otherwise, I would have twisted their heads off!" Duan Zhigan muttered indignantly.

"We won!" Luo Shixin shouted loudly. The Tang army had achieved a significant victory. It was estimated that fewer than three hundred Turks had escaped. They had left behind seventeen or eighteen hundred Turkic cavalrymen, while the Tang suffered fewer than two hundred casualties, most of which were minor injuries that would heal in no time.

"Victory!" the excited soldiers of the Yue Cavalry roared.

***

Sleds glided rapidly across the snow. Ignoring the biting, knife-like wind, Chen Ying stood on the command tower of the lead sled, scanning the horizon intently. Every sled was covered in white silk, and even the horses pulling them were draped in the same material.

Chen Ying’s actions had drawn criticism from Wei Wenzhong. In this era, silk was almost equivalent to currency. According to the "Six Codes" and the records of the Ministry of Revenue, silk accounted for nearly one-third of the Tang Dynasty's total fiscal revenue.

When Chen Ying departed Chang'an to support Lingzhou, he had brought three thousand bolts of silk, valued at over three thousand strings of cash. These were not intended for the Right Guard’s use, but were to be distributed by Yang Ze as rewards to the meritorious soldiers defending Lingzhou.

Yet, Chen Ying had not only misappropriated the rewards for the soldiers but had also wasted a vast amount of silk. Duan Zhigan’s unit had used over 140 bolts, Luo Shixin’s over 270, and now another 500 had been used to wrap the sleds and the mules. Even though Chen Ying had not embezzled the goods for personal gain, the charge of misappropriating military supplies was no small matter. Wei Wenzhong could not fathom why Chen Ying would waste these materials.

Chen Ying did not explain every detail to his soldiers. In his eyes, the lives of his men were priceless and could not be measured in money or goods; as long as he could reduce their casualties, he did not care about the loss of wealth. He only knew that the white silk could effectively mask the army’s movements, and that was enough.

Standing on the shoulders of historical giants, Chen Ying’s way of thinking was different from those of this era. In a situation where the enemy was strong and he was weak, where being discovered meant annihilation, Chen Ying would stop at nothing to camouflage his troops.

The Tang camp at the hot springs was now deserted. Aside from the four regiments under Duan Zhigan and the four under Luo Shixin, another nine regiments (including the personal guard), along with laborers and craftsmen—over four thousand people in total—were advancing toward Bogulü City on snow sleds.

Chen Ying stood on the tower, looking anxiously into the distance. With the heavy snow accumulation, communication was extremely difficult. Chen Ying had deployed a dozen light sleds, camouflaged as fixed points at various distances toward Bogulü City. Each sled carried a large cauldron filled with wolf dung, to be set ablaze to signal the capture of Red Mountain Fort.

These mobile beacon towers were disguised as small mounds of snow. But the moment they lit the smoke, the Turks would surely discover them. Once discovered, they would have no means of self-defense, but to pass on the message, they had to do their best and leave the rest to fate.

"Mercy does not command troops, and righteousness does not manage wealth." Chen Ying now truly understood the meaning of this phrase, for he had just personally sent over a hundred soldiers into a death trap.

Twenty miles from Bogulü City, Chen Ying ordered the entire army to halt. The trick Luo Shixin had used could only work once. The Turks were not fools; even if they didn't understand how the Tang army maintained their horses' stamina at first, given enough time, they would certainly figure it out.

***

In war, one cannot hope that the enemy is a fool. If you treat the enemy as a fool, you are the one who is truly foolish.

When Chen Ying learned that inside Bogulü City there were not only over twenty thousand Turks, but in fact mostly the old, the weak, the sick, and the disabled, he finally conceived a plan to defeat them.

Considering human nature, after Bulugen was defeated—and defeated miserably—he would certainly not report that the Tang army consisted of only two thousand men, most of whom were infantry. He would exaggerate the size of the Tang force to cover up his own incompetence. Once Qilifu She learned that the Tang force attacking Bulugen was thousands strong, he would wrongly assume that the main force of the Tang army was at Red Mountain Fort.

Qilifu She would undoubtedly commit his elite troops to attempt to annihilate Chen Ying’s unit. Once Qilifu She fell for the trap, half the battle to lift the siege of Lingzhou would be won. Although Bogulü City was dilapidated, in such frigid weather, the Turks would have no way to survive in the wild if they lost this shelter. Furthermore, Chen Ying could take the families of the Turkic soldiers as hostages to force them to attack the city.

Having stopped twenty miles from Bogulü City, Chen Ying’s troops began their final preparations for the decisive battle. Precious grain was fed to the horses, and the soldiers, hiding beneath the leather covers of the sleds, sharpened their blades and maintained their armor.

Only Chen Ying remained motionless on the tower. Wei Wenzhong watched Chen Ying’s lonely figure and felt a pang of sorrow. Since leaving Chang'an, Chen Ying had served as the commander-in-chief, bearing the pressure of ten thousand lives. Regardless of how strong he appeared on the outside, he was only sixteen.

Wei Wenzhong’s mind wandered, and he suddenly thought of the legendary General Huo Qubing. Perhaps Chen Ying’s future achievements would not be inferior to his!

Quietly watching the snow, Chen Ying noticed the snow particles beginning to vibrate faintly, the intensity gradually increasing. Although no detailed report had arrived, Chen Ying knew clearly that this was the movement produced only by a massive cavalry force!