Section 95: Indulgence and Exertion

It was already midnight when Zhou Suyan walked into the military camp.

She had arrived at the designated rendezvous point according to the orders she received, but no one was there. After waiting for a while, she tried to contact Wuzhou again, but the connection had failed.

For a moment, she considered returning to Wang Luo’s side. However, she did not know the location of his new camp, nor did she know what kind of reception she would receive. Thinking of the new women by his side, and fearing he might treat her with contempt, she ultimately gave up on the idea.

It was only half an hour ago that she finally re-established contact with Ling'er. The other woman’s voice sounded exhausted, devoid of any joy following their victory.

Zhou had many questions to ask, but Ling'er simply accepted her return to the fold—which caused another decline in her attributes and rewards—and ignored everything else.

"The team has been through a lot," Ling'er offered a brief explanation. "The Han army might set out tomorrow. Go back to the camp yourself. Whether you choose to join the Han army in battle is up to you."

And so, she returned in a daze, lost and bewildered, to the team that had once felt so intimate and like home.

It was all very bizarre. They had clearly won, so why was there first no contact, and then such an attitude? If Xiaowan were here, she could just ask her, but although she didn't know the exact circumstances, she was likely dead.

At this thought, she grew heavy-hearted and felt like crying.

Just then, the sound of weeping drifted from a tent nearby.

What was going on? She quietly moved closer.

There were dozens of people in this tent. Some lay down, others sat, remaining silent. Looking closely, she saw that there was more than one person crying; some sobs were loud, others muffled.

"Enough!" A man, who appeared to be an officer, seemed to have reached his limit and spoke in a low voice. "Even if you cry your hearts out, your families won't come back to life. It would be better to fight this battle well and make plans afterward."

His words sounded listless. A few soldiers looked up at him but said nothing.

"What plans can we make?" a person next to him replied weakly. "If we perform feats of merit, will it bring our parents back to life? I heard that some people on the other side were afraid we would seek revenge after earning merit, which is why we received no credit last time."

With these words spoken, the officer fell silent. The listless man beside him continued, "Some also say that to cut weeds, one must pull the roots. When the rebellion is suppressed, they intend to send us to our deaths. It would be best if the Revolutionary Army killed us; but if we happen to win, General Lu’s men will turn on us anyway."

As soon as this was said, the tent erupted into a chaotic commotion. "Is that true?"

"It must be true! What sort of things are those bastards capable of?"

"Then what do we do?"

The soldiers stared at each other for a while, then all turned to look at the officer, remaining silent. The officer wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. "Brothers, we are blessed by the Emperor's grace, and military law is ruthless..."

The conversation did not continue. A few soldiers picked up their blades and sliced open the clothing on their left shoulders.

There was no more sound in the tent after that. Unable to help herself, she went to several other tents to listen to the soldiers' conversations.

"Those people at the ferry crossing seem to have offended the General, so they weren't credited for their merit."

"If we perform feats of merit, won't they be embezzled as well?"

"No, they were the families of rebels, which is why that happened. We are all from respectable families. Even if the worst happens, I have relatives who know people around General Lu, and they can guarantee our merits won't be stolen. In fact, if we rack up enough, maybe even..."

"We're lucky we're fighting under a Colonel; if it were someone else, who knows how much we'd suffer."

"Easier said than done."

The situation was grim. They didn't mention rebellion at all—either they had no intention of rebelling, or they had already made up their minds. Zhou Suyan hurried back to Wuzhou’s quarters and reported what she had observed to Lin Feirui.

"There seems to be a saying in the camp that exposing the left arm counts as a surrender, and the Revolutionary Army won't pursue them," Hua Kai, who was by Lin Feirui’s side, said after hearing Zhou’s report.

But their usually shrewd and capable leader, Lin Feirui, lay lazily on the bed, not moving a muscle. "Let them be."

"But..." Zhou Suyan didn't know what else to say. "They are going to mutiny."

"Right now, that is a matter for Lord Red Lightning to worry about," Lin Feirui yawned. "He’s very capable; even if I did something, he would still find a way to use his items. So fine, let him do as he pleases. If we lose, we lose; if we die, we die. It has nothing to do with me. Besides, this enemy doesn't kill everyone; they are willing to accept surrenders."

"Go on, close the door, and don't disturb my rest."

Everything was settled just like that.

----

The next morning, the grand Han army set out to meet the first rays of sunlight.

The entire Han force looked majestic and powerful under the morning sun.

They were strong. In previous battles, they had defeated the enemy repeatedly, and although they hadn't wiped them out—or even inflicted heavy casualties—they held a psychological advantage in the confrontation.

In particular, the enemy now lacked grain, supplies, and a rear base, and the soldiers they had dispatched to distant areas had been defeated by local clans. Under such circumstances, a mob hastily gathered together could not possibly have any remaining will to fight.

All that remained was to reap the rewards of battle. How to seize the most credit was the only thing worth considering—that was what most of the Han soldiers thought.

Some of the officers around Lu Zhi were wary of the complaints from the soldiers at the ferry. However, Lu Zhi placated them, noting that those soldiers had not participated in land-redistribution activities, nor were they poisoned by the Revolutionary Army's propaganda. Even if, for the sake of caution, they should be executed, they had, after all, performed deeds of merit; as long as they performed well on the battlefield today, sparing them was not out of the question.

At this moment, across the field, Wang Luo had assembled all his troops as well. They had finished the last of their grain and wild vegetables for breakfast and were preparing to march to the battlefield.

Before heading out, Wang Luo gave a final rallying cry to all his soldiers.

"Soldiers of the Revolutionary Army! My comrades! What we are facing now is not hunger, but men. Everything depends on today's battle. The enemy is the same group we ambushed in the valley and decimated with fire; the same group whose main camp we broke and whose supplies we seized. We seek only justice, only the land we deserve for our labor, yet they treat us with the cruelest slaughter. We have treated every captive we caught with kindness, but after we released them, the Han army executed them along with all our captured soldiers."

"In today's battle, I want you to keep in mind every bit of training you have received, and remember the requirements and orders of your officers. You are no longer raw recruits who have just stepped onto the battlefield, but tempered, true warriors. The enemy is foolish to choose to fight us today. They could have sat and waited for hunger to destroy us, but out of greed for merit and a thirst for slaughter, they chose to come and fight. This is an opportunity destiny has granted us!"

"In the heat of battle, do not attack enemies who expose their left arms; instead, make them surrender their weapons. Those men are local troops from the ferry; they lack fighting spirit, their families have been killed by the Han army, and they do not want to fight—they have been forced to come. So, do not waste your strength on them. Once we rout the enemy, prioritize killing the Han officers, deny them the chance to regroup or organize a counterattack, and strike terror into the rest. Before we leave, destroy our tents and smash our cooking pots. Because today, we are moving into the enemy's camp! We will be eating in their tents!"

Despite these words, Wang Luo still left a few hundred of his wounded soldiers in a small number of tents, barely holding them with weapons. The rest of the soldiers, as they left the camp, followed Wang Luo's instructions: they tore down the tents, filled in the trenches, and smashed the cooking pots.