Over the next two days, Danzhu continued to send plateau infantry to drive Dakang civilians against the city.
Although they never managed to cross the moat, they depleted a considerable number of heavy crossbow bolts and stones inside the walls.
On the third day, the plateau forces noticed that some of the projectiles launched by the trebuchets were no longer just stones; bricks were mixed in.
Clearly the city’s stock of stones was running low, and they had begun dismantling houses.
The plateau commanders were thrilled by this discovery.
Danzhu, however, remained unmoved. He knew full well that Qing Xinyao might be feigning weakness, so he warned his officers not to lower their guard and to continue the original plan tomorrow.
At noon that very day, Jin Feng received word that Dazhuang was in position. He immediately summoned the Ninth Princess, Zhang Liang, and Qing Mulan.
“Dazhuang has sent word. They are ready.”
Jin Feng placed a small slip of paper on the table.
“Excellent!” Qing Mulan clenched her fists in excitement. “Sir, when do we move?”
“Xichuan has already held for three days. The sooner we act, the better,” Jin Feng said. “But before we begin, there is one thing we must do.”
“What is that?” asked Qing Mulan.
“Rally the men,” Jin Feng replied.
“Even if you hadn’t mentioned it, sir, Wuyang was about to remind you,” the Ninth Princess said. “I noticed the same problem. It isn’t that they fear battle or are lazy, but… how should I put it? They seem rather nonchalant.”
“They think the plateau people attacking Xichuan has nothing to do with them, so they are nonchalant,” Jin Feng explained. “Morale is one of the key factors deciding victory or defeat. Our chances are slim to begin with. If they fight with the attitude that it’s none of their concern, we will surely lose.”
“Sir, I’ll assemble the men at once.”
Zhang Liang had also sensed something was wrong lately but couldn’t pinpoint it. Only now did he understand.
The escorts felt no tension of an approaching major battle.
Soon, Zhang Liang gathered all the escorts on open ground.
Jin Feng climbed onto the platform and picked up the tin megaphone.
“Everyone knows I dislike beating about the bush. I called you here today because war is about to begin!”
Jin Feng spoke bluntly. “Yet I see many of you have no awareness that a battle is imminent. You’re slovenly, utterly indifferent!”
“Many of you have fought before. Don’t you know people die in battle?”
“Or do you think my Zhenyuan Escort Agency is like the armies you once served, where you can simply run away if you start losing?”
“The Zhenyuan Escort Agency has no place for cowards. Anyone who deserts in this battle will be executed on the spot! No compensation will be paid, and none of the businesses under the Xihewan banner will ever take in that deserter’s family!”
This was the first time the Zhenyuan Escort Agency would face a proper army, and elite plateau cavalry at that.
The outcome was of immense importance to the agency.
Jin Feng would not tolerate failure.
Instead of appealing to lofty national duty, he spoke directly to the escorts’ immediate interests.
The tactic worked brilliantly.
The faces of many escorts changed at once.
Ninety-nine per cent of the escorts were illiterate and understood nothing of abstract righteousness, but they knew full well that desertion meant death for themselves and expulsion of their families from the Xihewan factories.
That price was more than they could bear.
Seeing the escorts react, Jin Feng continued, “I know many of you think the plateau people attacking Xichuan is none of our business, that I, Jin Feng, am just meddling.”
“I have vast wealth and a noble title. Am I mad to come to a battlefield to meddle?”
“Do you realise that elite cavalry can ride from Xichuan to Jinchuan in a single day and night?”
“When one lips perish, the teeth grow cold. Once the plateau people take Xichuan, they will surely turn north towards Guanzhong. Guangyuan lies on the direct route. They will definitely strike Guangyuan!”
“If we cannot hold Xichuan today, we will not hold Jinchuan tomorrow!”
“On the way here, you all saw what villages plundered by the plateau people look like, didn’t you?”
“Everything slaughtered, not even chickens or dogs spared!”
“These past two days you’ve heard how the fighting is going at Xichuan. The plateau people are using civilians as human shields, whipping them forward to assault the prefectural city!”
“If we fail to save Xichuan today, when the plateau people reach Jinchuan, you will be their human shields, their arrow fodder!
Your children will be impaled on their spear tips!
Your wives and concubines will be violated by them!
Your homes will be burned to ashes!”
“Now tell me, does Xichuan City still have nothing to do with you?”
By the end, Jin Feng was almost shouting.
Below the platform, the escorts’ expressions gradually turned grave.
Jin Feng was right. Before this, many had truly believed the fall of Xichuan was irrelevant to them.
But after his analysis, cold sweat broke out across their bodies.
On the journey they had passed several villages reduced to silent, ghostly ruins.
These past two days they had heard about the battles at Xichuan City.
“Defend Xichuan! Fight to the death, no retreat!”
Zhang Liang seized the moment, raised his arm, and roared.
“Defend Xichuan! Fight to the death, no retreat!”
The escorts below roared in unison.
Jin Feng and the Ninth Princess exchanged a glance and both let out a quiet breath of relief.
Morale had finally risen.
When the escorts’ shouting died down from exhaustion, Jin Feng raised the megaphone once more.
“For this battle, I am putting up three thousand taels of silver as reward for those who fight bravely!”
The big stick followed by sweet dates proved most effective.
At these words, the escorts erupted into excited roars.
At the edge of the open ground, Wei Datong stroked his beard and smiled.
The civilians the Ninth Princess had taken in and temporarily settled on the boats had also come up on deck to watch what the escorts were shouting.
“Set off! Board the ships!”
With a wave of Jin Feng’s hand, the escorts boarded in the order they had drilled.
Soon, dozens of large vessels set off one after another, forming a long convoy on the Jinma River, sailing downstream.
An hour later, a stone arch bridge appeared ahead of the fleet.
On the east and west banks beneath the bridge stood two fortresses on each side.
They had originally been garrisoned by Dakang troops, but when the plateau forces arrived, the soldiers had either died or fled, leaving the fortresses in plateau infantry hands.
These fortresses were Jin Feng’s target!
Dong, dong, dong!
As muffled drumbeats sounded, seven large ships peeled away from the convoy.
Five veered towards the western bank of the Jinma River, while two stopped directly beneath the bridge.
When the five ships nearing the west bank were still five or six metres from shore, they simultaneously lowered gangplanks. Hundreds of escorts charged across the planks onto the river beach.
The plateau garrison on the west side of the bridge, two hundred men strong, naturally would not stand idly by. They immediately despatched one hundred and fifty men to repel the landing!
“Captain, the Dakang people are attacking the west bank. Shall we go help?”
On the east bank, a plateau infantryman asked the captain.
“Our task is to guard the two fortresses on the east bank. If we go to the west and the Dakang people seize the east bank instead, we’ll all be hanged!”
The captain replied, “Besides, didn’t you see the bridge surface is blocked by Dakang trebuchets? How could we charge across? Let’s watch for now!”
Hearing this, the subordinate could only shut his mouth.
