A special thank you to my patrons:
—Cain, Shahzaam, kevin Williams, Jose Carrillo, Jose Sierra, Salim, Silver, Archer, ManyEB, Acedia, Zhandos Kauzhanov, Mursuland, Vora, kurtis newman, 66835, Alex Rushing, Fredrik Dahlman.
You can read 50 chapters ahead of everyone on p@treon.
P@TREON - [email protected]/lessaservantofcosmos
(just replace the "@" with "a")
ps: Please support me on P@treon. I can really use your help!
—————————————————————
Spring, which should be full of hope, with a spring breeze that should bring comfort, now only filled Commandery Governor Wang and Assistant Commandery Governor Lu with utter disappointment and a penetrating chill.
Just two days prior, they had received news that the pontoon bridge at Shanjin was burned down. Initially, the two hadn't paid too much attention, as it fell under Hongnong Commandery's jurisdiction. No matter how chaotic Hongnong became, it wouldn't affect Hedong before the bridge was repaired. However, what followed far exceeded their expectations.
The White Wave Army hadn't headed to Ji Province but turned around and emerged from beneath Lei Dashan in the Lüliang Mountain range, capturing Yong'an County in one strike…
If it were ordinary Yellow Turban forces, that would be one thing. Ever since the Zhang Jiao brothers were executed, the remaining Yellow Turban bandits had become increasingly ineffective. Without discipline and management, most only knew how to swarm forward, fighting only when the wind was favorable, and collapsing at the slightest setback.
But this White Wave Army was different.
This was, after all, the White Wave Army that had even defeated Dong Zhuo's Liang Province troops before…
Although Niu Fu's earlier defeat involved many factors, one couldn't deny the White Wave Army's tenacity and combat effectiveness, which were considerably higher than ordinary Yellow Turban forces.
The destruction of the Shanjin pontoon bridge meant that, for at least some time, they couldn't expect support from the imperial court. Of course, Hongnong was currently in chaos too, so how much support Dong Zhuo's court could provide was another matter.
Now, a very real problem lay before Commandery Governor Wang and Assistant Governor Lu. They had to fight; not fighting wasn't an option. As commandery governor and assistant governor, defending the territory was a crucial duty. If they showed cowardice and feared battle, even if the imperial court didn't order an investigation, public opinion alone, the accumulated saliva of the masses, could drown them…
But the question was: how to fight?
The main issue was whether the White Wave Army intended only to plunder or aimed to conquer Hedong?
If it was just plundering for a while, that was easier to handle. They could just wait for the White Wave Army to prepare to withdraw and then send troops to retake Yong'an County.
If it wasn't just for plunder…
Then they needed careful consideration.
It wasn't that Wang and Lu feared battle, but warfare truly differed from a brawl. Money, grain, weapons, various supplies, logistical support—everything had to be considered beforehand. Otherwise, if they led troops into battle, reached Yong'an County, and then ran out of provisions, it wouldn't be called quelling a rebellion; it would be called delivering a meal.
Wang and Lu's original idea was to have the Wei family take the lead, then gather the private militias of local gentry from large and small villages, plus the commandery troops under their control. This way, although not guaranteed to defeat the White Wave Army, they could at least hold off their advance and prevent them from becoming too rampant.
Moreover, this would also provide an opportunity to deplete the power of these local powers…
But they hadn't expected the Wei family to suddenly claim illness at this critical juncture!
Of course, Wang and Lu understood this "timely illness" was the Wei family's retaliation for Wang Yi's earlier feigned illness, but there was little they could do. The Wei family's move was to force Wang Yi to visit them first and bow his head. But if Wang Yi did that, he would never be able to hold his head high in Hedong again, rendering all their previous efforts to break free from the local powers' control futile.
"My Lord, the situation is critical. Perhaps we could request assistance from Inspector Fei of Shang Commandery…" Lu Chang suggested. Although this was Hedong Commandery's affair, and in principle, there was no reason for Shang Commandery personnel to get involved, given the current circumstances, unless they were prepared to compromise with the Wei family, this seemed the only viable path.
Wang Yi pondered for a long time, then nodded. After all, they had established some goodwill with Fei Qian before and hadn't had any conflicts. Moreover, Fei Qian's main camp still had Jia Qu stationed southwest of Anyi, making communication at least easier than with the Wei family.
"I shall go personally to discuss this, to show sincerity." Since they had decided not to take the Wei family's route, Wang Yi naturally had to act appropriately.
"I will lead the commandery troops to Xiangling to defend it immediately." Since Commandery Governor Wang Yi would hold Anyi, it naturally fell to Lu Chang to go to the front lines to oversee the battle.
Xiangling was a relatively large county town near Yong'an, effectively right under the White Wave Army's advance. Lu Chang's action thus meant personally going to the front line.
"Mengheng… I entrust this to you. Please proceed with caution!" Wang Yi stood up and gave Lu Chang a solemn bow with clasped hands.
"Wei (Understood)!" Lu Chang smiled. Having reached this moment, he actually relaxed. "Back when the Yellow Turbans ravaged the Yu and Ying regions, my family was also destroyed in the warfare. Today's matter is merely life and death. As long as Chang has breath left, I will not allow the rebel army to advance south one step!"
××××××××××××××
"Yong'an County in Hedong has fallen to the White Wave Army." Fei Qian passed Jia Qu's letter for everyone to read. "Additionally, the Shanjin pontoon bridge is burned. Our trade route with Sili is cut off. Hedong Commandery's grain and fodder can't be procured now either; after all, Hedong itself is facing the Yellow Turbans, and all the local gentry, big and small, are hoarding grain…"
Jia Qu's letter contained not a single piece of good news, only bad.
Huang Xianliang, stationed at the Shanjin camp, performed well, preventing the enemy across the river in Hongnong from destroying the goods stockpiled in the camp—a stroke of luck amidst misfortune. Currently, Cui Hou and Huang Xianliang were overseeing the transportation of all supplies to Beiqu.
Fei Qian hadn't originally intended to engage in long-term trade with Sili, but he hadn't expected it to end so abruptly. Although over this month or so, he had indeed profited significantly from the price differences between the two regions, if it could have lasted about three months according to his original plan, Fei Qian would have accumulated a considerable fortune…
But now, having only achieved about one-third of that, it was forced to abort. For Fei Qian, this was indeed a headache.
Don't be fooled by Fei Qian's rapid expansion during this phase. Starting from when he first entered Hedong with less than a thousand infantry and under a hundred cavalry, he now had three camps under his jurisdiction—well, two remaining, as the Shanjin camp had withdrawn. Infantry had expanded to over five thousand, cavalry increased to nearly a thousand. If including recruited Hu cavalry, the total cavalry force was around fifteen hundred…
But these were still rootless troops without a foundation.
Beiqu here was only a camp, not a city. Consequently, it couldn't attract a large population for farming, nor could it expect any harvest this year…
With the Sili trade cut off and Hedong's grain supply severed, although there were still considerable grain reserves at this stage and some cattle and sheep obtained from trading with the Hu people, these couldn't fundamentally solve the problem.
Moreover, another problem now lay before Fei Qian—
Fei Qian slowly surveyed everyone present and said, "Hedong is now requesting our assistance. Do we agree or not?"