"While cannibalism is not unheard of, he is the only one who takes pride in it and boasts about it. Half of the rebel army's vile infamy comes from his atrocities."
Zhao Qinghe picked up where He Yue left off. "After Hong Xiangqian was defeated and killed, Lu Yao gathered the remnants of his forces and fled south. Their arrival in Xianling Village wasn't just 'passing through,' as they claimed, but to rendezvous by Xianling Lake with two other rebel generals."
"These two are General of the Right Tent Wu Shaoyi and General of Hunshui Pei Xinyong."
He Yue asked in alarm, "When will they meet, and how many men do they have in total?"
"Tomorrow afternoon, around Shuangyue Bay. Combined, the three forces number at least four to five thousand men."
He Lingchuan felt that he and his father were truly cursed with terrible luck. They had even consulted the almanac for an auspicious date before setting out!
Was that almanac fake? Which unscrupulous workshop had printed it?
Whether imperial soldiers or rebel brigands, routed troops often had weapons but no discipline. Burning, killing, looting, and pillaging along their way, they were more terrifying than bandits.
Within the next few days, Xianling Village would be overrun with rebels.
Initially, having heard that the villagers here were bandits in disguise, He Chunhua and his sons had felt some contempt for them. After all, outlaws rarely dared to fight officials, not to mention that their side had superior numbers, well-trained soldiers, and fierce commanders.
He Lingchuan had felt all the more confident after surviving multiple brush-with-death perils, assuming that having weathered great storms, what could a minor nuisance like this amount to?
Yet only now did they learn that the other party was a high-ranking rebel officer—the notorious cannibal general!
The man commanded fourteen hundred subordinates, and tomorrow, three times that number of rebels would arrive.
It was as if a fisherman, trying to catch an eel in a river, jumped into the water, thrashing and pulling wildly, stabbing it several times with his fish spear, only to realize the thing was not an eel at all, but the tail tip of a giant anaconda!
Was it too late to pull back now?
He Lingchuan noticed the expressions of the retainers beside his father; their faces were as pale as death.
If they fled under cover of night, what would their chances of success be?
He Lingchuan was certain that his father's fierce fighting spirit had also been extinguished, and he would now begin thinking of a way to escape.
A retainer immediately suggested, "If we head down the mountain right now, perhaps we can get ahead before the rebel reinforcements from Desheng Town arrive."
Zhao Qinghe shook his head. "That fat man confessed that the rebels from Desheng Town have already arrived—about seven hundred of them. Right now, they're resting at Shaozi Crag, barely five li from here!"
Everyone blanched in horror.
Two hundred rebels plus seven hundred reinforcements already gave them more than double the numbers of the government troops.
The personal guard numbered over four hundred, but only slightly over three hundred were combat-ready soldiers. The rest were women, children, and logistical staff, possessing virtually no fighting ability. If a battle truly broke out with the rebels, the soldiers would also have to divide their attention to protect them, leaving them at an overwhelming disadvantage.
Madam Ying and Zhu Xiu'er realized how dire things were as well, their faces turning paper-white.
If the government troops were defeated, the fate awaiting female dependents like them... they would be better off slitting their own throats.
Hearing these numbers, He Chunhua instead calmed down. "If Lu Yao holds every advantage, why hasn't he started fighting yet? When Vice Commander Zeng ambushed him by the lake, he didn't get angry; instead, he sued for peace with me."
At this hint, He Yue immediately responded, "He wants to preserve his forces too!"
"Since they are holding a rendezvous tomorrow, even if these routed chieftains want to sit down harmoniously over tea and discuss terms, they will likely determine their rank and standing based on sheer military strength. In this situation, clashing with our forces would inevitably cost Lu Yao men, which might jeopardize his plans for tomorrow. That's why he was forced to compromise."
In other words, the mindsets of He Chunhua's government troops and Lu Yao's rebels were both delicate.
Neither side wanted to incur losses.
He Lingchuan glanced at his younger brother. This second brother of his truly had a nimble mind.
"Then that means there is still room to maneuver; this is not an inescapable deathtrap," said the retainer Mozhe Jingxuan. "However, Lu Yao's so-called peaceful coexistence will likely only last a few more hours."
"Seeking peace with him is no different from bargaining with a tiger for its hide," He Chunhua mused. "He doesn't want to make a move tonight because he doesn't want his strength depleted. But come tomorrow, when all three armies converge, they will likely join forces to hunt us down!"
What act could rally rebel morale more than annihilating a detachment of government soldiers?
These routed troops might even believe they needed a sweeping victory to lay a solid foundation for their rendezvous.
He Lingchuan's heart felt heavy. He felt as though he had returned to the battlefield from his dreams. Was that same despair—surrounded by enemies on all sides with no glimmer of hope—about to play out in reality?
In this isolated mountain ravine without defense or cover, pitting three hundred men against four to five thousand and expecting to win... not even novels would dare write such a plot.
When that time came, He Chunhua's three hundred men would simply be sacrificial offerings for the rebels' grand alliance.
Madam Ying could not help but chime in, "Leaving now won't work, leaving tomorrow won't—won't work either, so what are we supposed to do?" Were they supposed to just sit and wait for death?
The dining hall fell silent for a moment.
Staying meant death, leaving meant death. Without realizing it, their party of three to four hundred had fallen into a desperate impasse.
If Heaven never closes off all exits, where was their sliver of hope?
He Lingchuan recalled the battlefield in his dream. When the final defensive line formed by carriages was on the verge of collapsing, what he had felt was not complete despair, but the glory of fighting to the death!
They had held out until the very end, finally hearing that heart-stirring war horn.
It was the same now. Admitting defeat was far too premature; there were still several hours before dawn.
Time was money, and they still had a chance to turn the tables.
Seeing everyone sitting dazed in the hall, He Lingchuan cleared his throat and said to He Chunhua, "The disparity in strength is too vast; relying on ourselves alone probably won't cut it. Father, have you considered borrowing outside strength?"
"Desheng Town, the closest place to us, is already controlled by rebels. If we want to request reinforcements, we would have to go further out to Qianteng Town. I remember there is a Hebei Garrison Command there, but after the major battle at Woling Pass, I don't know how many garrison soldiers remain." He Chunhua took a deep breath. "I will write a letter pleading for aid and dispatch someone down the mountain. If we can hold out until tomorrow afternoon, perhaps... there is still hope."
"No... Father, that's not what I meant. The rebels aren't a monolith either. Do those two generals named Wu and Pei truly submit to Lu Yao? Rather than pinning our hopes on the unreliable garrison soldiers down the mountain, shouldn't we try using their own momentum against them?" Seeing everyone staring at him with wide eyes, He Lingchuan gave a dry laugh. "That's all I've thought of so far. Details to be determined."
"Chuan'er, what you said..." A flash of inspiration struck He Chunhua's mind. Pondering it carefully, his eyes grew brighter and brighter. "Makes sense! Yes, a great deal of sense!"
He had been muddled for a moment, intimidated by the sheer swarms of rebels, forgetting that two-thirds of them were not Lu Yao's subordinates at all! Though they were all rebels, the differences between them were vast.
The point He Lingchuan had raised was like poking through a paper window—once revealed, it seemed obvious, yet it was immensely useful. Following this train of thought, Mozhe Jingxuan also grasped the crux of the matter: "Lu Yao rallied fourteen hundred men, yet brought only two hundred-odd to Xianling Village, leaving the rest in town. Why? Because this village can't support that many people!"
Chapter 118: Truth Clarifies Through Debate
Xianling Village was only a small village with limited supplies. If Lu Yao brought all fourteen hundred men up the mountain, how would they solve the problem of feeding them? Chew on tree bark?
God only knew how long this rendezvous would drag on. At the very least, the three factions would have to hold several meetings, intrigue against one another, determine who was boss, establish ground rules, and then re-mobilize, rally, and redeploy their rebel rank and file before they could even think of concluding it.
"Then that means the men Wu and Pei bring up the mountain won't be many either—roughly comparable to Lu Yao," he said. Truly, the more truth was debated, the clearer it became. "Added together, the forces gathering by Xianling Lake will number at most seven to eight hundred men!"
Madam Ying was bewildered. "How can it be only seven or eight hundred? Didn't that cannibal general already conceal an ambush of seven hundred men at Shaozi Crag?"
"Precisely!" He Chunhua chimed in, a glint in his eyes. "The three factions must have agreed in advance to bring only two hundred men each up the mountain. On one hand, the village's supplies are limited and cannot sustain more; on the other, they can check and balance one another to avoid armed conflict."
To prevent accidental sparks from igniting a firefight.
At these words, everyone felt vastly reassured.
Their own combat strength was three hundred men. Bolstered by the State Token, they could exert the prowess of four to five hundred. The enemy had seven or eight hundred... Though double their numbers, it was no longer an insurmountable advantage.
What was more, the enemy consisted entirely of routed troops fleeing from Woling Pass. Like stray curs, their fighting spirit had long been broken. As long as their own men united with one heart and fought with courage and devotion, they might very well shatter the enemy line!
Defeating an enemy two or three times one's own size on the battlefield was no myth; historical precedents were plentiful. In fact, He Chunhua himself had fought such battles in his younger years.
"In other words, these three factions have constantly been on guard against one another. We can turn this to our advantage. Lu Yao brought another seven hundred rebels from Desheng Town. While it was to plot against us, the other two factions don't know that," He Yue said with a smile. "Since Lu Yao isn't moving against us tonight, those seven hundred men serve no immediate purpose. So who's to say why they were brought here? For all anyone knows, he might really be trying to intimidate the other two sides."
Everyone exchanged glances and let out a collective breath.
He Chunhua's expression had relaxed considerably, and he now said, "When these three bands of routed troops meet, the three generals must establish a hierarchy to determine who holds supreme military command; otherwise, these several thousand men will remain a loose sheet of sand, incapable of achieving anything significant later on." In an army, there could only be one voice. "If we tamper with things a bit, we may well deflect a thousand jin with four ounces of force."
He added, "I have heard that Wu Shaoyi and Lu Yao share an old grudge. Wu Shaoyi snatched military merits several times, earning greater appreciation from Hong Xiangqian, which made Lu Yao deeply resentful. Wu once favored a great beauty and even wished to take her as his primary wife, but Lu Yao defiled her first. Afterward, he even had her cooked and sent to Wu Shaoyi. It is said that when Wu Shaoyi saw the beauty, her face was still frozen in a smile."
He moistened his throat with a sip of water. "General Wu flipped the table on the spot and led his men to attack Lu Yao. In the end, Hong Xiangqian had to step in personally, relying on his boundless authority in the army to smooth things over. But as one can imagine, their relationship could never be mended."
"There was such bad blood between them?" He Lingchuan asked in astonishment. "Lu Yao is a cannibalistic fiend and not even one of the original founders of the rebellion. Why did Hong Xiangqian keep him around all along?"
"The man is formidable in battle. After joining Hong Xiangqian, he achieved a brilliant record of seven consecutive victories. In one of them, he even shattered the eye of 'Iron Bucket General' Zhao Ronglüe, causing him to die of severe injuries, and Woling Pass fell to the rebels." He Chunhua spoke of it as if reciting family treasures. "Whether their own soldiers or the enemy, all had an instinctive terror of such a ferocious cannibal fiend, and Hong Xiangqian made full use of that."
A peerless weapon of carnage, placed in the right hands, might just become a peerless divine blade.
"But Hong Xiangqian is dead now," He Lingchuan said, enlightened. "To the other rebels, their disgust for Lu Yao probably outweighs their fear. Why would they rendezvous with him here?" Now that the man holding down the fort was gone, wouldn't those beneath him thrash about with all their might?
"I don't know the answer to that either. Perhaps they each have their own calculations."
He Yue thought for a moment. "The priority right now is to find the other two rebel forces."
"If the rendezvous is set for tomorrow afternoon, they should be heading up the mountain by now, or have already arrived," Mozhe Jingxuan said. "They aren't here for sightseeing. Even thieves case the joint before pulling a job; they must come up early to survey the terrain."
"There are only two paths up and down the mountain, both leading to Xianling Village. Mountain trails are treacherous at night, so they won't pick some obscure shortcut." He Chunhua instructed his personal guard, "Fetch the guides."
The group conferred for a while and soon laid out the rough blueprint of a plan.
He Lingchuan had only supplied the opening spark; after that, with everyone chiming in back and forth, there was no room left for him to chime in.
He grabbed another apple. This one looked riper and probably wouldn't be as sour.
When the apple was nearly finished, the others had wrapped up their discussion as well. Only then did He Lingchuan add, "Words alone carry no weight. Father, you must win the trust of Wu and Pei; otherwise, the three of them might soon melt away their past grievances and become one big happy family. Seeing is believing. It would be best, hmm... best if you let them see with their own eyes that you and Lu Yao are getting along swimmingly."
"See with their own eyes?" Mozhe Jingxuan said thoughtfully.
He Chunhua instructed a guard to bring brush and paper. "I will also send a letter to the Hebei Garrison Command requesting their troops, so we can work on both fronts."
Madam Ying asked worriedly, "Will they agree?"
"If the rebels are in a position of weakness," He Chunhua said meaningfully. "Defeated generals dare not boast of valor. Riding the lingering momentum of our grand victory at Woling Pass, how could our imperial forces fail to suppress these panic-stricken rebels? With a turn of the hand, it will be another major military achievement."
Mozhe Jingxuan cleared his throat lightly. "If the rebels intend to take to the hills and set up shop here, how could the local prefect tolerate it? He will surely want to excise this malignant tumor before they gain a firm foothold."
He Chunhua wrote furiously, finishing in one go. Before the letter was sealed, He Lingchuan stole a glance and noticed it read "routed rebels numbering over a thousand," bringing a smile to his face.
If the reported number of routed rebels was too large, the reinforcements might be too frightened to come. This "thousand-odd" was quite deliberate: He Chunhua had three hundred elite troops of his own, so if the Garrison Command and local imperial troops merely wanted to escort them out, dispatching another two to three hundred men would suffice. But if they genuinely wanted to eradicate the rebels, they would need at least two thousand or more.
Yet the figure He Chunhua reported could not be considered false either; the rebels who actually ascended to Xianling Village for the rendezvous would likely be just over a thousand.
Soon, he finished writing everything and handed the documents to the respective people to carry out.
He Lingchuan watched from the side, full of admiration.
Though He Chunhua served as an official in a remote frontier region, he possessed a thorough grasp of events across the Yuan Kingdom. From the dispositions of rebel chieftains to the temperaments of local prefects and the troop strengths of garrison commands, he kept clear track of it all.
What kind of meticulous foresight did this require?
One had to realize that the territory of the Yuan Kingdom was vast; without urgent couriers, a relay horse would take over a month to travel from east to west. Furthermore, He Chunhua was stationed in the most isolated frontier, yet he still held a comprehensive understanding of the realm's internal situation. This truly required immense energy, wealth, and connections—none of which could be lacking.
Chapter 112