The three thousand warriors were all cast of muscle and brawn, tall and stalwart to a man, marching in disciplined ranks with flying strides. Flanking the column were dozens of Dao Foundation captains, tasked with continuously refreshing their swift-marching dao arts.
Empowered by the dao arts, the army made remarkable speed, covering a hundred li in a single two-hour shichen. Their march was strictly regulated as well: they sprinted for one shichen, rested for a quarter-hour, and then marched another shichen.
Their raid's target lay eight hundred li from the territory. The army would not arrive until the second day, requiring them to make camp midway and breach the line of military redoubts Yuan Qingyan had painstakingly constructed.
Mounted on horseback, Wei Yuan watched the swiftly moving troops from a distance, missing Fang Hetong quite a bit.
Bao Yun's Seven Marvels Treasure Tree also possessed secret arts to speed an entire army along. Yet Wei Yuan did not yet have such talents under his command, nor was he wealthy enough to equip every warrior with a warhorse. At present, the territory could only ensure that each Dao Foundation cultivator had a mount.
The army pressed on. By the morning of the second day, a military redoubt came into view in the distance.
Here lay a stretch of flat ground roughly a hundred li wide between two mountains. The redoubt was built right in the middle of this plain, straddling the east-west passage. Any large force wishing to pass through had to do so right under the redoubt's nose.
When the army appeared within sight, horns sounded within the stronghold. The redoubt immediately stirred into a frenzy, and a moment later, a vice general climbed to the top of the ramparts accompanied by several colonels. Seeing the troops advancing with resolute, synchronized strides, the vice general drew in a sharp breath of cold air.
Bearing like this was certainly no rabble. The vice general's first thought was that a Shaman army was attacking, and his face drained of color. Fortunately, as they drew closer and he saw clearly that the entire army was human, he breathed a sigh of relief.
If it wasn't the Shamans, things were manageable! He had just begun to relax inwardly when a second thought struck him: coming from the west, yet not Shamans—didn't that mean they were from that place?
The faint color that had just returned to his face drained away in an instant.
At that moment, seated on his horse dozens of li away, Wei Yuan was already gazing at the redoubt and could clearly see everyone upon its walls. The commander of this redoubt was a general named Liu Yang, an officer belonging to Western Jin's local faction.
His unit did not belong to Yue Jinshan's northern border army, nor was it part of Yuan Qingyan's direct clique; hence, Yuan Qingyan had dispatched them far afield to garrison this post.
Of the six redoubts stretching from north to south, four were heavily garrisoned traps set by Yue Jinshan. This redoubt happened to be one of the remaining two.
Originally, this redoubt occupied a critical location, yet Yue Jinshan had deliberately refrained from setting a trap here—a maneuver that captured the very essence of military strategy: making the empty seem full, and the full seem empty.
Unfortunately for Yue, Wei Yuan was likewise a master of the military arts, deeply versed in the essence of subduing the enemy without fighting. He had set a fire in Yue Jinshan's backyard, leading the man's own nephew to sell out the entire defensive deployment lock, stock, and barrel, allowing Wei Yuan to bypass the enemy's strength and strike straight at their vitals.
Up on the redoubt, a captain inquired, "General Liu, the enemy has entered the range of our bed crossbows. Should we fire?"
Vice General Liu's face darkened. "They're clearly still two li short. How could we possibly hit them?"
The captain paused, then said, "As long as we elevate the front of the bed crossbow by two chi and three cun, it can shoot an extra two li. If we don't need pinpoint precision, propping it up with five large gray bricks will do the trick."
The captain clearly knew his craft, rattling off accurate figures without hesitation. But Vice General Liu's expression was now as foul as could be.
Right then, a colonel behind him chimed in, "Isn't this bed crossbow broken? I just inspected it this morning—it can't be used right now."
"I maintained it myself with my own hands! Where is it broken?" the captain argued, flushing red.
Vice General Liu suddenly leaned in close, took a deep sniff, and said coldly, "Daring to drink in the military camp and climbing the ramparts drunk! Men, drag him away and lock him up for three days!"
The captain was dumbfounded again and cried out, "An injustice! I drank on my day off the day before yesterday..."
Vice General Liu had no desire to hear his explanations. With a meaningful glance, several colonels stepped in personally—some tying ropes, others gagging his mouth—and finally carted the captain away.
And so, ten li away, several thousand troops didn't even slow their pace, nor did they deploy a detachment to keep watch on the redoubt's movements. They simply thundered right past.
One colonel could bear it no longer and cursed, "This is looking down on us too much! If I took two hundred cavalry right now, charged in, and swept them from behind, we could wipe them out! General Liu, how about we hit them?"
Vice General Liu glared with wide eyes and barked, "What do you know? This is a stratagem to lure the enemy—they definitely have an ambush waiting! Hmph, he might fool others, but he needn't dream of fooling this general!"
The colonels secretly rolled their eyes. They naturally knew what kind of man Vice General Liu was. He had nothing in common with a renowned general; his only marketable skill was retreating like the wind, escaping death by the skin of his teeth on multiple occasions.
Yet the colonels were all smooth operators as well, and none exposed him.
Seeing that all his troops had safely passed the redoubt, Wei Yuan waved his hand. Nearly a hundred masked riders filed out, making no attempt to conceal their auras. Prancing their warhorses in small, brisk steps, they crossed the valley before the redoubt.
On the ramparts, the officers all sucked in a breath of cold air. Every single one of these masked riders was actually a Dao Foundation cultivator! In contrast, the entire redoubt, from top to bottom, had only twelve Dao Foundation cultivators—not even a quarter of their number.
Immediately, a colonel began counting the masked riders: "Fifty, sixty... eighty-seven. It really is the Fifty Heaven-Battling Bandits!"
Another colonel asked in confusion, "Aren't they fifty bandits? This is nearly a hundred!"
Vice General Liu's face was already ashen as earth. In the distance, a rider wearing a jade-colored mask suddenly turned his head and cast a glance over from afar. Vice General Liu instantly felt as if a bucket of icy water had been poured over him, freezing him stiff on the spot!
Fortunately, the rider merely looked once before riding away, surrounded by the other horsemen.
The officers on the ramparts fell silent. Suddenly, a colonel cursed, "That bastard Yuan harbored rotten intentions from the start! Stationing us here to hold out—isn't this just sending us to our deaths?!"
Another seasoned colonel remarked, "General Liu truly anticipates matters like a god."
Only then did the other colonels react, offering their flattery with genuine sincerity this time.
Vice General Liu's hands and feet were still cold, leaving him in no mood to enjoy their flattery. "This general feels somewhat weak and will return to my quarters to rest a while. Remember to alert me when they return. Bear in mind: under no circumstances are you to act rashly! Whoever dares shoot the first arrow will be executed!"
Having given his strict orders, he finally went down the wall to rest.
Just as dusk fell, that army returned.
This time, they hauled hundreds of carts laden with grain, fodder, and supplies, escorting several hundred crestfallen government troops as they paraded grandly past the redoubt once more. This time was even more outrageous: they were barely two li from the redoubt.
Alerted to the news, Vice General Liu hurried up the ramparts and instantly drew in a sharp breath. With so much grain and baggage, the great depot in the rear must have been plundered!
At that moment, a defender nocked an arrow to his bow, taking aim at a masked rider below. Quick of eye and deft of hand, Vice General Liu lashed out with a flying kick, sending the soldier tumbling down the city wall, coughing blood and unable to rise.
Vice General Liu broke into a cold sweat. Looking back down, he happened to catch sight of the jade-masked rider once more.
The jade-masked rider seemed to recall something. He casually waved over a cart, raised his spear, and pierced one of the laden sacks. From the tear spilled gleaming white rice. Then the rider reined in his horse, leveled his spear, and gazed up at the ramparts—not moving an inch.
Cold sweat poured from Vice General Liu in waves. In this moment of life and death, the art of divining the intentions of superiors he had honed over many years finally found its purpose. A spark of inspiration flashed in his mind, and he shouted, "Haul all the grain from our granary out and load it onto carts! Send it outside! Fast, hurry, all of you! Not a single grain of rice is to remain!"
A colonel asked in astonishment, "This... what if the higher-ups investigate?"
Vice General Liu glared fiercely at him. "You've been in the military for over a decade—how can you not even know this bit of common sense? Tonight, we burn the granary!"
Chapter 246