Amidst the surrounding clamor, Qiu Hu stepped forward and pitched his voice low so only the father and son could hear. "The enemy looks set to besiege the city. Should I take a squad and slip out through the West Gate first? It would make it easier to coordinate from both inside and out."
He Lingchuan's first thought was: *Good idea!*
Keeping a capable detachment outside allowed them to scout enemy movements and coordinate strikes from within and without, offering great operational flexibility.
Before he could speak, however, He Chunhua waved a hand. "Unnecessary. There are ways out."
"Dad..."
"Just trust me," He Chunhua stated firmly. "I will have people make preparations."
He was always meticulous and never spoke carelessly. If he said there was a way, there almost certainly was. He Lingchuan signaled Qiu Hu to stay calm and be patient.
Qiu Hu nodded and went off to attend to his duties.
Watching his receding figure, He Chunhua remarked to He Lingchuan, "The guard the Mount Rong Sect assigned to you is quite capable. I would say he has the makings of a general."
Upon hearing news of an enemy attack, how could an ordinary warrior react so swiftly?
Would the Mount Rong Sect truly assign talent of this caliber to act merely as a bodyguard for his eldest son?
Just how highly did they regard him?
He Lingchuan merely chuckled.
Naturally, the thought only flashed across He Chunhua's mind. The looming battle demanded his full attention, and he began calculating the balance of forces inside and outside the walls.
He had brought a personal guard of a hundred men; the newly assembled Blackwater City defense force numbered seven hundred and eighty; and the Mount Rong contingent his eldest son brought added another fifteen. That put their total fighting strength at around nine hundred.
"Nine hundred is not enough." He rubbed his temples. "When I left Blackwater City the year before last, the garrison clearly had two thousand two hundred men. How can there only be seven hundred and eighty left?"
Zhao Qinghe answered at once, "I looked into it. Last year, Prefect Hu cited heavy expenditures and requested permission to downsize the defense force. The royal court approved it, cutting the garrison to fifteen hundred. Later, when the northwestern front grew strained, another seven hundred men were transferred out."
"Absurd!" He Chunhua touched his forehead. "This is a vital border fortress!" That bastard Hu really had it coming!
Yet He Lingchuan understood the reality. Blackwater City had enjoyed peace for a long time, and with the annual wild sand season rendering four or five months of every year unsuited for warfare, Prefect Hu had grown complacent. The Blackwater City troops had been established by former prefect He Chunhua and were forbidden from engaging in unauthorized land reclamation; they were regular border forces maintained entirely by local coffers. With tight local finances, supporting so many grunts had become an excruciating burden.
Originally, the Yuan court had subsidized military expenditures, but in recent years the Yuan Kingdom had suffered endless internal strife and could no longer afford the funds. Prefect Hu lacked He Chunhua's knack for generating revenue and could only seek ways to cut costs, which couldn't strictly be considered a grave fault on his part.
One thing led to another, resulting in the current predicament.
These nine hundred men might barely suffice to hold the walls, but if they hoped to beat back the Andongese, it fell rather short.
After all, the quality of the soldiers...
"Nine hundred is indeed not enough. Our only choice is to conscript from within the city," He Lingchuan said, rubbing his chin. "In the few days since I returned, I've seen plenty of able-bodied men wandering about the streets, including quite a few cultivators."
"Cultivators?" He Chunhua understood at once. "They're here for the Panlong Desert as well."
"Isn't that readily available assistance? It would be a waste not to use them."
He Chunhua pondered for a moment and offered a rare smile. "A good idea."
With that, he hurried off to the Blackwater City market square.
The accompanying personal guards beat gongs along the way, drawing the townsfolk together.
Facing the elders and citizens gathered from across the city, He Chunhua launched into an impromptu address to reassure the populace and rally recruits.
He made only three points:
First, Blackwater City possessed towering gates, thick walls, sturdy defenses, and formidable artillery. Foreign enemies could scarcely breach it, or else they would not have needed tricks to coax the gates open.
Second, twenty years ago, the Andongese were already his defeated foes. If He Chunhua could defeat them three times back then, he could defeat them a fourth time.
Finally, Blackwater City had abundant grain and well-stocked armories; the elders and folk had no cause for concern. Able-bodied men were being recruited immediately to protect their homes and defend the city, with pay and compensation promised on the most generous terms!
The soul-snatching mirror asked He Lingchuan, "Is grain really so abundant here?"
"Who knows?" Given what He Lingchuan knew of the administrative competence of Yuan Kingdom local officials, this was almost certainly He Chunhua talking out of his ass. "What else is he supposed to say? 'Grain is running low, the weapons rusted ages ago, and we can't even issue full sets of armor'?"
Had he uttered a single squeak of the honest truth, half the city's populace would have fled immediately.
He Chunhua had governed Blackwater City for over a decade, known for approachable and benevolent administration. Most citizens didn't even recognize Prefect Hu, yet they trusted He Chunhua deeply.
Now that Prefect Hu had been killed, the gates were besieged, and internal strife coincided with external threats, the people were terrified of the dark storm gathering. But out of nowhere, their former prefect had descended upon the city, calm and composed at the helm—
He Lingchuan stepped forward at the right moment to back him up. Drawing a deep breath from his chest, he bellowed, "Lord He defeated the Xunzhou rebels in the north and now serves as Chief Administrator of Yazhou, bestowed the titles of Marquis of Wuwei and General Changning! Just a month ago, he quelled the southern rebellion! The petty enemy threat outside Blackwater City is not even worth mentioning! This city is full of hidden talents; let all experts and powerful fighters come forward to lend their aid, so we may repel the foe and reopen the gates without delay!"
That last sentence was directed at the various other factions lurking within Blackwater City. The commoners, of course, did not grasp that nuance, but hearing about He Chunhua's string of military feats and knowing such a familiar, capable figure was taking charge put their minds greatly at ease.
Afterward, recruitment in Blackwater City went relatively smoothly, drawing over three hundred recruits within four hours.
The newly enlisted men had a brief window to learn and drill basic combat techniques.
In the midst of his hectic work, He Chunhua found a moment to ask Zhao Qinghe, "Did any cultivators join voluntarily?"
Zhao Qinghe shook his head.
*Heh, as expected.* He Chunhua sneered coldly. "Then let us 'invite' them to join voluntarily."
At his side, He Lingchuan chimed in, "No hurry."
"No hurry?"
"They don't want to enter the fray just yet. If you force their hand now, Dad, it might backfire."
*Better not push them into the arms of the Andongese.*
Without realizing it, He Chunhua had grown accustomed to consulting his eldest son. "Then how long should we wait?"
"Until they believe we stand a chance of winning," He Lingchuan said with a smile. "Or better yet, until they grow impatient... From what I see, that won't be long."
He Chunhua nodded slowly.
He Lingchuan caught a thoughtful look in his father's eyes.
There was no telling whether he was pondering He Lingchuan's words, or He Lingchuan himself.
When He Lingchuan returned to his quarters for a brief rest, the mirror asked him again:
"Could this current situation be part of your plan as well?"
Even though it hadn't noticed any of this when He Lingchuan was formulating his plans, its master often had hidden depths to his actions that it only realized when events unfolded.
"Nonsense," He Lingchuan said. Having washed his face, he lay flat on the bed with eyes closed to rest his mind. "The Andongese suddenly attacking the city is an accident. It's not like I invited them here."
Never entertain illusions that every plan will be carried out completely or that events can remain entirely within one's control. After experiencing the great battle at Mount Xu, he had come to understand:
Accidents were the norm in life.
"Really an accident?" the mirror asked, still skeptical.
"The Andongese attacking Blackwater City isn't surprising in itself," He Lingchuan said. "As my father put it, when a weak nation neighbors a strong one, peril is inevitable. Besides, now that the wild sand season is gone, Blackwater City has lost a major natural barrier, so foreign enemies no longer fear a protracted war. But the timing—they picked it so damn well that it threw my original plan completely into disarray."
Chapter 813