Pingyang Fu of the Red Chamber

Chapter 1172 Staying at Luoyue Pass
"Giddy up, giddy up!"

"Keep up the pace, we must rest at Luoyue Pass today."

A series of galloping hooves thundered past.

Zhang Jinyu led his army, and as evening approached, they arrived not far from Luoyue Pass. A day had passed, and the city and fortress of Luoyue Pass were now in sight.
"Ningbian, is there any news from beyond the Great Wall?"

"My lord, Military Advisor Xiao of Pingyao City has replied, saying that he personally led 20,000 cavalry, with General Zhang Tianpeng as the commander, and the troops have already marched west and yesterday headed straight for Yinzhou City in Liaonan."

Ningbian, holding the reins in one hand, replied that the cavalry formed from the south had already set off.

"Nonsense, how can we let Mr. Xiao go?"

Zhang Jinyu frowned and reprimanded him. "The trade route outside the pass has been so successful; no one but Mr. Xiao deserves such credit. If something goes wrong, who will be left to clean up this mess?"

"My lord, Prefect Lu of Pingyao City has been trying to persuade Mr. Xiao to go, but he won't listen. He says that the opportunity is rare and that Yinzhou City is within his grasp, so he has no choice but to go. I can only tell General Zhang Tianpeng that Mr. Xiao's safety is the most important thing."

Ning Bian also gave a wry smile and explained that a major battle was imminent, and Mr. Xiao was afraid of missing the opportunity.

Seeing Ningbian's state, Zhang Jinyu felt mostly helpless. At his age, he was still thinking about such things. Even if he couldn't take Yinzhou City, it wouldn't hinder his methods. As long as he captured the main Jurchen army, he could easily sweep through. Thinking of the Jurchens' current situation, he quickly asked another question.
"How is Pingliao City now? Judging by the time, the battle has been going on for three days now."

"Reporting to the Marquis, it has indeed been three days. The scattered news has all been sent by carrier pigeon. General Wen Yuan has already mobilized the able-bodied men in the city to defend it. Lady Wuya Yu's 50,000 light cavalry have tried several times to break through the Jurchen cavalry blockade and harass the supply lines, but unfortunately they have not succeeded and have retreated again and again."

Ning Bainian also found this troublesome, not expecting that the Jurchens, who had suffered a crushing defeat in the northern desert, still possessed such strong fighting power.

Zhang Jinyu, mounted on horseback, frowned. There were hardly any good news reports. As for the Jurchen's fighting strength, the more battles they fought, the more elite they became.

"It's good that they can fight. Those who have fought their way through mountains of corpses and seas of blood are all tough guys. How are the troops that Liu Changwen has gathered in Pingyang City doing? By the way, Prefect Liu's name is not much different from that of my student. They both have Changwen in their names."

I wonder if this kind of integrity is the same.

"Yes, my lord. Prefect Liu has already mustered an army of 200,000 and is now marching south. They will meet up with our troops at Mengjin. I wonder if Pingliao City can hold out for another two days."

Ningbian was somewhat worried. In a message sent by carrier pigeon, he specifically mentioned that it was unbelievable that the Han Eight Banners were attacking the city so fiercely.

"There's no need to wait two days. You and I will lead the troops and stay at Luoyue Pass for half a day. Let General Chai prepare food and fodder, rest for three hours, and set off at dawn. In this way, we can reach Mengjin in one day, and then head straight for Pingliao City. All in all, it will take at most one and a half days."

Zhang Jinyu had already memorized the topographical map of the area beyond the Great Wall, so he didn't need to look at the map again. When he thought of Mengjindu, Zhang Jinyu's eyes lit up. If he could outflank them from the south and rush straight to Huang Jitai's camp to wipe out most of their Han Eight Banners infantry, then the remaining cavalry would be no threat, because the Jurchens were short of armor.

"Yes, my lord, I understand. But I don't know if the Jurchens will fight to the death. If they fight to the death, our casualties will be considerable."

Thinking back to the 150,000 new troops in Pingyang City, they were all built with piles of silver.

"The casualties are considerable, but if we can get our hands on the Jurchens, the losses will be worth it. This time, we must severely damage the Jurchen Khanate's elite forces. At that time, I'm afraid Huang Jitai will not be able to control the various tribes under him."

A hint of coldness appeared on Zhang Jinyu's lips. Nomadic peoples gathered together in tribes, and once the leader was broken up, the rest would simply scatter like monkeys when the tree falls.

"Yes, my lord, let's go."

Another crack of the whip, and now, in the distance, Luoyue Pass came into view.

On the south gate tower, the garrison commander Chai Yanping had already received the news and stood on the tower, gazing into the distance, waiting for the arrival of Marquis Luoyun. His deputy general hurriedly led his personal guards up to him.

"General, hot food, dry rations, and fodder have been prepared inside the pass. As soon as you enter the pass, you will be able to have a hot meal. The East Camp has been cleared out for you to rest in."

"Good, well done. Let's get the brothers in spirit. Once we've done something, we have to do it thoroughly. Now that we've pledged allegiance to Marquis Luoyun, we can't be half-hearted."

Chai Yanping spoke calmly, but her heart was churning with turmoil. She never expected that in the end, it was only through the support of the people outside the Great Wall that the salary was paid.

"General, rest assured, the brothers all understand that if it weren't for the supplementary rations and pay that Marquis Luoyun gave us, we wouldn't have survived before. The day before yesterday, the pay sent by the court was less than 30% of what it should have been, and it wasn't even enough to buy food for the brothers."

The deputy general was filled with resentment. It was because the general had not taken the vacancy that the food and pay were insufficient. If the garrison had been reduced from five thousand to one thousand, there would still be plenty of silver to spare. Unfortunately, Luoyue Pass had a full five thousand garrison.

"Alright, enough with the complaints. The court has its own difficulties. I felt guilty before, but all of you brothers have families to support. Fortunately, we also get a share of the tax revenue from the border."

Thinking of this, a smile appeared on his face. If it weren't for Mr. Xiao from Pingyao City, he might still be hesitant. Just then, the deputy general looked up, his sharp eyes spotting a large cloud of dust to the south, and suddenly shouted,
"General, these are the troops of Marquis Luoyun."

"What? They arrived so quickly? Quick, clear the city gates!"

"Yes, General."

Upon hearing this, the deputy general quickly led his men down to the city gate. Seeing the chaotic scene, with caravans and goods filling the not-so-wide gate one after another, he was filled with anger and shouted.

"Damn it, they're all dead! Men, get them out of here! Quick, the Marquis is here!"

"Yes, General,"

Several captains rushed over with whips, and together with their soldiers, they lashed out at the porters driving the carts. After a series of cries of pain, things finally quieted down.

Then, many soldiers continued to push the city gates open wide, since the gates were usually half-open.

After a while,
As the massive, weathered city gate of Luoyue Pass slowly opened with a creak,

The army outside the city,

Zhang Jinyu took the lead, leading his weary cavalry into the pass. Inside, as ordered by the Marquis, the garrison commander Chai Yanping had already made arrangements. The aroma of steaming millet porridge and baked cakes filled the air, dispelling the soldiers' fatigue from the long march. After the army arrived at the camp, the warhorses were quickly led to the stables, which were piled high with fresh hay and water.

Zhang Jinyu took a deep breath, touched his waist and abdomen, dismounted, and galloped away at breakneck speed—a feat that would be unbearable for anyone.

The moment his foot touched the ground, Chai Yanping, accompanied by his deputy, rushed forward and knelt on one knee.
"This humble general, Chai Yanping, greets Your Excellency! The camp here is fully prepared with provisions, hot food, fodder, and barracks. The brothers are ready to use them at any time!"

Seeing that the soldiers around him had all dismounted and were eating in the drill ground, he felt quite satisfied.

"General Chai, please rise. You've worked hard! I won't stay long this time. After we finish our meal and rest for a while, we'll break camp in four hours!"

Zhang Jinyu helped Chai Yanping up. Although her tone was approving, the urgency in her eyes remained undiminished. What they lacked now was time. If reinforcements arrived a day earlier, it would alleviate Zhang Wenyuan's pressure. Looking around, she saw that the walls of Luoyue Pass were sturdy, and although the garrison was tired, their spirits were still high. Clearly, Chai Yanping was good at managing his troops. More importantly, the actual supplies brought by the "tax silver from below the pass" had stabilized the morale of the army. The man before her was already one of their own.

"Your Excellency is too kind. This is merely my duty. If it weren't for Your Excellency's compassion for the border troops, the supplementary rations and pay, and permission for me to share the trade route taxes, I fear my five thousand brothers and I would not have survived the harsh winter after the new year."

Chai Yanping spoke sincerely, and her eyes reddened for a moment.

"Why act like a girl? We are all in this together, sharing both glory and loss. Now that you have come to serve me, how can I abandon you?"

At this moment, a soldier brought a basin of water. Zhang Jinyu quickly washed his hands, and Chai Yanping immediately made way for him.

"This way, my lord. I have prepared some congee and side dishes for you to warm up."

"it is good."

Zhang Jinyu didn't stand on ceremony and led Ning Bian and the others into the barracks.

As soon as I entered, I saw that the room had obviously been cleaned up. There were only a few beds with brand new bedding, and a table with several jars of stewed meat and hot porridge on it.

Zhang Jinyu did not refuse. She sat down, picked up her bowl of porridge, and gestured for Chai Yanping and Ning Bian to sit down and talk. They all took chopsticks and ate together.

"General Chai, you know the situation outside the pass better than anyone else. The battle at Pingliao City is critical and cannot be delayed any longer. Our army will only rest here for four hours before setting off at dawn. The defenses inside the pass must be secured. This place connects the inside and outside of the pass and is also a vital passage for trade routes. We must pay close attention to it."

He drank a few mouthfuls of porridge and ate a few bites of meat, then gave his instructions in a deep voice. Chai Yanping's expression tightened, and he immediately clasped his hands in a fist salute:

"Rest assured, my lord! The five thousand garrison at Luoyue Pass will certainly guard the pass strictly and ensure the smooth flow of trade routes here. However…"

He hesitated slightly. The Jurchens had come in such a hurry; they were surely unwilling to give up. If the Marquis rushed in headfirst, this...
"My lord, I've heard that the Jurchens are launching a fierce offensive at Pingliao City, and even the Han Eight Banners are exceptionally brave. I wonder if you are absolutely certain that you can successfully rescue them?"

Perhaps it's unnecessary to rush over to avoid the enemy's sharpest attack.

"Who's brave and fierce? Those bondservants who have forgotten their ancestors, hmph!"

Zhang Jinyu sneered, put down the bowl of porridge, and her eyes flashed with a cold light.
"The more they crawl out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood, the harder their bones are, and the more they should be broken! They think they have trapped Pingliao City, but little do they know that I intend to use them as bait to encircle the main force of the Jurchens! The goal of this battle is not to relieve the siege, but to annihilate the elite troops under Huang Jitai's command, especially the Han Eight Banners infantry you mentioned!"
"Once we destroy them, the Jurchen cavalry will lose their shield and will have no chance of attacking the city. In cavalry battles, the Jurchens are outnumbered, and as for casualties... as long as we can take down this tough nut, any price is worth paying! Without the skin, where will the hair attach? Break Huang Jitai's spine, and his so-called Khanate will crumble in an instant!"

These words were spoken on the way here, after he had thought things through. If he could conquer all the Jurchen tribes and occupy Liaonan, the fertile black soil would all belong to him alone.

Chai Yanping was shocked. The bowl of porridge in his hand hung in the air as he realized how grand Luo Yunhou's plan was. If the Jurchens only had a small number of armored cavalry left, it would indeed be a decisive move to cut off their supply lines.

"Your Excellency is wise and far-sighted. This humble general will guard Luoyue Pass well and await Your Excellency's good news!"

"Eat quickly. Oh, and there's also Mengjin area. Is it flooded there right now?"

Early autumn in the north is usually dry with little rain, but this year the climate is abnormal. The south of the pass, which should be experiencing the rainy season, is instead experiencing more rain. So the situation outside the pass is still unknown.

"Rest assured, my lord, the weather outside the pass is normal. The grasslands are mostly arid and there are no wetlands, so it will not affect the travel of your army."

Chai Yanping casually recounted the situation in the north. After all, caravans passing through the pass were numerous every day. With a living map in front of him, Zhang Jinyu exchanged information on the terrain outside the pass, the supply lines, and possible enemy attacks.

After a simple meal, Zhang Jinyu was already exhausted. The days of traveling and the worries about the war situation had taken their toll, even on a body of iron, and she was feeling rather weak.

He rubbed his temples and said to Chai Yanping and Ning Bian:

"General Chai, I entrust all matters within the pass to you. Ningbian, you may also take a short rest. Be sure to break camp on time at dawn."

"Yes, Lord Marquis!"

The two responded in unison, quickly got up, tidied the table, and left the house.

After everyone left, Zhang Jinyu took off her light armor, lay down on the bed, pulled the blanket over herself, and fell asleep almost immediately, her heavy snoring soon filling the air.

Time flies,

Just as the sound of snoring filled the Dongcheng camp inside the pass, four hours passed in the blink of an eye. Soon after, officers and soldiers from various units began to sound horns and assemble their troops.

After a period of arguing and bickering,
Zhang Jinyu was half asleep in bed, still thinking about the tender moments he had shared with Qin Keqing. Suddenly, he opened his eyes and stared blankly at the dark, simple roof. It took him a while to realize that he was in the Luoyue Pass camp.

A wave of fatigue washed over me; the short sleep I had wasn't nearly enough to fully recover.

however,
This rare and brief period of peace did not last long. About fifteen minutes later, at the deepest moment of the night, a series of urgent but deliberately low knocks sounded on the door.

"My lord! Urgent report from Jinbei Pass, eight hundred li away!"

Outside the door, Ning Bian's tense voice could be heard.

Upon hearing this sound, and with the bugle call from the main camp already sounding, Zhang Jinyu woke up almost instantly. After quickly putting on his armor, all sleepiness vanished from his eyes.

"Come in!"

"Yes, Lord Marquis."

Ningbian carefully pushed open the door and entered, his face so solemn it could drip water, and he tightly gripped a small, sealed copper tube in his hand.

He strode quickly to the table, lit the oil lamp, and the room was instantly illuminated.

"My lord, it was a scout dispatched from Jinbei Pass that reported this overnight! The Right Wise King of Donghu, Qie Ti Hou, is personally leading an army of 300,000 southwards. They are currently marching along the southern foothills of Yinshan Mountain. Furthermore, scouts have gathered intelligence that the Left Wise King of Donghu, Yizhi Huye, has also arrived!"

"what?!"

Zhang Jinyu's pupils contracted sharply. He snatched the copper tube, twisted it open forcefully, and pulled out a thinly rolled strip of paper. By the dim light of the oil lamp, he quickly scanned the densely packed coded symbols and brief information on it. The message was confirmed to be correct!

"Was it sent to us, or has it spread throughout the border regions?"

The Right Wise King of Donghu, Qie Tihou, was a brave and skilled warrior with a renowned reputation on the grasslands. It was said that he had retreated to the north to the royal court. Why would he choose to launch a full-scale southward offensive at this critical juncture? His timing was so precise that it was no accident!
"My lord, scouts have been dispatched throughout the entire border region, saying they are spreading the word that reinforcements are needed. I heard that those people are also planning to go to Zhongshan County to mobilize the local army first."

Ningbian suddenly sensed something was wrong. A bone-chilling coldness instantly shot from his tailbone to the top of his head. If the army outside the pass was tied up by the Jurchens, the Marquis might not be able to intervene in the war in the north.

"Something's wrong!"

Zhang Jinyu abruptly put down the secret letter in his hand, pondering for a moment. The connection between the two events was likely a coincidence. Not to mention that the Jurchens arrived earlier, even if the Donghu people moved south, it would have taken them an unknown amount of time to reach the Jinbei Pass. Even if they did reach the pass, they had been stuck there for many years, never breaking through the pass.

"Ningbian, pass this matter on to General Chai. We can't interfere with things inside the pass; let the court deal with it."

Zhang Jinyu's voice became somewhat languid again. She touched her stomach, not quite hungry yet, and asked again;

Where is Liu Changwen's 200,000-strong army now?

The army from Pingyang County, having marched a day earlier, should now be not far from Mengjin, Ningbian immediately replied.

"Reporting to the Marquis! Prefect Liu has already sent out scouts. The army has crossed the Yu River. According to the calculation of the journey, they should be camped and resting about fifty miles north of Mengjin Ferry, waiting for the Marquis to join them."

Fifty li north of Mengjin...

Zhang Jinyu's eyes flashed rapidly as a clear map of the northern landscape appeared in her mind.

"very good!"

He suddenly stood up, grabbed the precious sword from the table, and hung it at his waist.
"Immediately issue the order! The army shall set off."

"Yes, Lord Marquis."

Zhang Jinyu took a deep breath, no longer sleepy, pushed open the door, and went out.
outside,

The biting morning wind swept in instantly, but it only invigorated him. At the training ground, the soldiers, who had been awakened early, were preparing their gear, feeding their horses, and checking their weapons in a tense but orderly manner. Huge campfires illuminated the faces of many soldiers.

Chai Yanping rushed over, clearly having learned of the urgent military situation from the scouts; his expression was equally grave.

"My lord! Everything is ready! This humble general is incompetent and cannot accompany you on your personal campaign. I can only offer my best wishes for your victory and your sweeping conquest of the borderlands! Water and rations are all prepared."

Zhang Jinyu patted Chai Yanping on the shoulder heavily and said only two words:
"Hold the line!"

He then mounted his horse, his gaze sweeping over the fully equipped army, and sharply swung his whip forward:
"Brothers, let's go!"

"Drive! Drive! Drive!"

The well-prepared army, like a wild dragon awakening, surged forth once more. The heavy clatter of hooves shattered the silence of dawn, and a torrent of iron surged out from the north gate of Luoyue Pass, raising clouds of dust.

(End of this chapter)