"I'm not leaving."
Xiahou Yuan's attitude was utterly resolute. Huang Zhong could only smack his lips in regret.
Back in Gong'an County, he had glimpsed future wars through the light screen. Because of that, he understood better than most how terrifying gunpowder could be.
From this day forward, strong walls could no longer be relied upon. The cavalry had General Guan's iron riders. The infantry had the hundred or so iron warriors brought by General Wu.
What did that Cao bandit even have left to fight with?
He might as well surrender early to Lord Xuande and spare the Han people some bloodshed.
Unfortunately, General Xiahou refused.
…Wait?
Huang Zhong stared blankly at the collapsed city gate for a while. When he turned around, Xiahou Yuan was gone.
Looking up again, he spotted him ahead, chatting familiarly with Wu Yi as if they were old acquaintances.
"Did you also come from Chang'an?" Xiahou Yuan asked.
Wu Yi was not a man prone to smiles, and he could not quite read Xiahou Yuan's intentions. He replied vaguely, "What makes you say that?"
Chuckling, Xiahou Yuan pointed toward several young men near the front lines who were not dressed like soldiers.
"They're students from the Imperial Academy. I saw them when I was in Chang'an."
The youths held small notebooks and hard pens, gesturing toward Wuyang City in the distance while scribbling rapidly.
Xiahou Yuan suddenly felt a strange nostalgia.
Back when he lived in a small courtyard in Chang'an, he had once argued with commoners over the wall. One of them had proudly told him that although their family were common folk, their son had still entered the new Imperial Academy founded by Lord Liu.
At the time, Xiahou Yuan had peeked over the wall and seen the boy returning home on leave. His outfit had looked exactly like these chattering youths before him now.
The explosions, thunderous blasts, and collapsing walls that left seasoned generals stunned seemed, to these academy students, almost routine.
They stood so close, yet Xiahou Yuan felt as if an invisible, insurmountable wall separated him from them.
For a moment, his mind filled with tangled thoughts. Almost unconsciously, he asked,
"Now that the gate is broken, will General Wu press the advantage and take Wuyang?"
Wu Yi kept his eyes forward and shook his head.
"I'm waiting for Wuyang's commander to come out and surrender."
"The commander is Cao Ren, a veteran general. He won't surrender easily…"
"Then we blow up another gate."
Wu Yi's reply was calm and casual.
"When all four gates collapse and Wuyang has no walls left to defend, we still have over a thousand crossbows. The enemy will know what choice to make."
Xiahou Yuan found himself speechless.
War truly was no longer the one he knew.
Though expressionless, Wu Yi also felt a surge of emotion.
In just four short years, the battles he had fought and the achievements he had made far surpassed the decade he had spent under Liu Yan and Liu Zhang.
More than twenty years ago, Dong Zhuo seized power. His uncle died, and the world fell into chaos. Their entire family fled from Chenliu to distant Yizhou. He had thought he would watch the Han decline here and live out a mediocre life.
Yet twenty years later, he was now preparing to march back toward Chenliu.
And this time, he had a wise lord, elite troops, and all the advanced weapons produced in Chang'an and Chengdu that he himself had brought.
When he left Yanzhou back then, the realm was in turmoil.
Now he, Wu Yi, would fight his way back to Yanzhou and end this age of chaos for Lord Xuande.
---
"General Wu, will Wuyin receive reinforcements?"
With the battle here already decided, Huang Zhong began worrying about other passes along the Jing–Yu border.
"Of course," Wu Yi laughed. "When I came here, Strategist Xu had already ordered Meng Huo and Wang Ping to lead eight thousand strong warriors. By now, they should already have accomplished something."
"Wuyin's terrain is treacherous…"
Huang Zhong still could not help worrying.
At the Jing–Yu border, four mountain chains cut through three major passes. Of the three, Wuyin was the most dangerous. Narrow, mountainous, and dotted with rivers and marshes, it was difficult for Cao's forces to break in. But for the same reason, Jingzhou's army also found it hard to push out. The situation there was the most uncertain.
Wu Yi burst out laughing.
"The eight thousand under Meng Huo and Wang Ping are all Nanzhong tribesmen. They thrive in dangerous terrain."
Especially since he had personally trained them for two years. Many had followed him deep into Yunnan. They were true veterans, able to cross forests and hills as if walking on level ground.
---
At that very moment, Wang Ping had climbed to a high point and shaded his eyes with his hand.
"Hah. Damn, it's flat."
Meng Huo immediately looked at him with disdain.
"Wang Zijun, when will you read more books?"
"The direction you're looking is toward Runan in Yuzhou. Since ancient times, that region has been the heart of Yuzhou, the most suitable land for farming."
Meng Huo suddenly missed Scholar Zhongda a little.
According to General Wu, Sima Zhongda could not bear to see Yunnan remain uncivilized, so he had stayed behind to educate the locals.
Such lofty ambition made Meng Huo deeply respectful. He silently resolved that once this war ended, he would make a trip to Yunnan to visit Zhongda.
As for this Wang Ping…
When he first heard the name, he had thought Wang Ping would be a refined Han general, complete in all five virtues.
Instead, the man could barely recognize a single character.
What a waste of that courtesy name.
Still, Meng Huo had to admit something.
A general should possess wisdom, trustworthiness, benevolence, courage, and discipline. Wang Ping might not have much connection with wisdom, but courage…
Thinking back to how Wang Ping had led the charge to break the siege of Wuyin, smashing straight through Cao's formation on horseback, Meng Huo felt a little uneasy.
Could this man's bravery really come entirely from being illiterate?
"I'm reading, I'm reading," Wang Ping said, hopping down and waving his hand.
"Didn't the Champion Marquis say it? As long as the Xiongnu aren't dead, how can you think about marrying?"
"Well, same for me. Once we help the Imperial Uncle snatch that Prime Minister's seat from that Cao dog, and the world's at peace with no more fighting, then there'll be plenty of time to study."
Meng Huo pressed a hand to his forehead, then pointed out the real problem.
"If you can't read, you can't even understand the marching medical records. How are you supposed to become a great general?"
Wang Ping scoffed.
"A great general hesitates forever before leading from the front. Could he be as straightforward as me?"
Seeing Meng Huo at a loss for words, Wang Ping urged,
"We've beaten Cao's forces. Where do we go next?"
Meng Ho's eyebrows shot up.
"When we heard Strategist Xu's orders in Wancheng earlier… were you not there?"
"I don't remember that many words."
"Wang Zijun, maybe you should just leave the Han registers and become brothers with the Nanzhong tribes."
Sighing, Meng Huo once again strengthened his resolve to visit Sima Zhongda after the war. Then he waved his hand.
"Now that the siege is lifted, we should invite Generals Zhang Nan and Feng Xi to join us."
"Either march north to support General Wu, or continue east to attack Shangcai and cut the connection between Yingchuan and Runan."
Wang Ping climbed back onto the boulder and carefully took a strange object called a telescope from a brocade pouch in his robe. He looked south.
"Why isn't heading south an option?"
Meng Huo snorted.
"Several cavalry units are fighting chaotically to the south. You can barely ride a horse. And you want to join that?"
"But I heard before coming that both General Zhang and General Zhao have Divine Blade units that can fight cavalry on foot…"
"Then wait until you have a Divine Blade unit of your own," Meng Huo replied flatly.
"Our priority is still to strike the enemy leader."
"The cavalry battle in Runan is exceptionally difficult. It's not something you or I can meddle in."
"How hard could it be?" Wang Ping muttered, unconvinced as usual.