“You said the stone bridge has been seized?”
Sangji was stunned. He grabbed Cidan by the collar and roared, “Speak quickly! What happened?”
“After lunch, a fleet suddenly appeared on the river. More than sixty ships, every one packed with men…”
Cidan hurriedly recounted everything.
When he reached the part where two or three hundred of the enemy had wiped out over one hundred and fifty Tubo infantry in close combat, losing only about thirty themselves, Sangji cut him off at once.
“Dakang cannot possibly have troops that elite!”
“General, I swear by the great Immortal of Light I am not lying, or you may hang me!” Cidan raised his hand and swore. “I saw it clearly from the riverbank. They wear some kind of armour that is incredibly tough. Our blades could not cut through it.”
“Armour that cannot be cut?”
Sangji’s brows knitted slightly.
The Immortal of Light was their sacred faith. Since Cidan dared swear by it, he was almost certainly telling the truth.
An elite force several thousand strong was enough to turn the entire campaign around.
Sangji could not understand it. Everyone knew Dakang soldiers were feeble, or Gada would never have dared attack Xichuan Prefecture with only twenty thousand men.
“Do you know which unit they belong to?” Sangji asked.
He had to find out where this elite army had come from.
“I don’t know…” Cidan shook his head.
Dakang had far too many units. Let alone a Tubo soldier like him, even most officers in the Dakang Ministry of War could not remember every designation.
“Then you must have seen their banner. What did it look like?”
“I did. It was black with two characters embroidered on it, but I couldn’t read them…”
Cidan added, “Their armour, uniforms, and sabres were all black too.”
“Who on earth uses black banners, black armour, and black blades?”
Sangji was utterly baffled.
On the plateau, black symbolised darkness and ill omen. Dakang had no such taboo, yet black banners were still exceedingly rare.
After thinking for a while without an answer, Sangji asked, “Where is your captain?”
“He went to reinforce the west bank and was smashed to death by their trebuchets!” Cidan replied. “Before crossing, the captain told me to ride here and report.”
“Those cursed trebuchets!”
Sangji punched the table.
Ever since learning that Dakang possessed trebuchets, Gada had ordered craftsmen to copy them.
The principle was simple, and the craftsmen soon produced replicas.
But the copies were crude.
A single pole in the middle, a heavy weight on one side, a basket of stones on the other. That was all.
They could hurl stones, yet the range was barely ten zhang, and reloading was painfully slow.
Jin Feng’s trebuchets used falling weights combined with steel components, easily flinging a full basket thirty zhang. With lighter loads for precision, they could reach a hundred zhang.
The Tubo imitations were laughable by comparison.
Carrying such things into battle would only be a burden.
“General Sangji, when I left they had already started demolishing the bridge! You must send men to stop them!” Cidan pleaded tearfully.
Without heavy machinery, destroying a stone bridge was no easy task.
Mao’er Mountain was not far from the bridge. If Sangji marched now, there was still time.
“I understand. Leave me.”
Sangji waved Cidan away and paced inside the tent.
Danzhu had stationed him here for two reasons: to keep Meng Tianhai bottled up on Mao’er Mountain, and to guard the Tubo army’s line of retreat.
If the bridge fell, that second task would fail.
After a moment’s thought, Sangji summoned his three lieutenants through a guard.
“Mima, order the First, Second, and Third Banners to set out at once and retake the stone bridge!”
Sangji looked at the first lieutenant.
“General, we only have five banners in total. Withdrawing three at once, what if the Dakang troops on Mao’er Mountain break out?” the lieutenant asked.
A Tubo banner was roughly one thousand men.
“You needn’t worry about that. Just retake the bridge!” Sangji snapped.
“Yes, sir!” The lieutenant saluted and ran from the tent.
“If Meng Tianhai discovers we have pulled three banners away, he may attempt a breakout,” Sangji told the second lieutenant. “Dawa, you will hold Duckbill Ridge with the Fourth and Fifth Banners. No matter what, Meng Tianhai must not escape Mao’er Mountain!”
Duckbill Ridge was a natural choke point. Seal it, and Meng Tianhai was trapped.
“Rest assured, General. Meng Tianhai’s lot are cowards, and they’ve been starving for days. If I let them get past me, you can hang me yourself!” Dawa thumped his chest.
Normally only three banners garrisoned Duckbill Ridge, with the other two resting and ready to reinforce Xichuan.
That was why Sangji felt safe sending three banners to the bridge.
They had already fought Meng Tianhai and knew his measure.
In the earlier battle, even holding the high ground, Meng Tianhai had failed to defeat a single Tubo banner. Now the terrain favoured Tubo, and Meng’s men were reduced to eating bark. Escape was impossible.
By comparison, Sangji was more concerned about the unknown elite force at the bridge.
Still, caution made him call back the departing lieutenant. “Meng Tianhai commands several thousand men at least. Do not underestimate him! If he really breaks out, none of us will live!”
“Yes, sir!” The lieutenant’s face grew solemn.
“Awang, you personally take Cidan and ride fast to the prefectural city. Inform Lord Danzhu of the situation here and await his decision!”
Sangji told the third lieutenant.
“Yes, sir!”
Awang saluted and left the tent.
Outside, the camp was in uproar.
Soldiers were hurriedly assembling everywhere.
Soon, Lieutenant Mima led three thousand men out of camp at speed, heading straight for the stone bridge.
Knowing the urgency, Mima ordered a forced march. In just half an hour they reached Rabbit Valley.
Once through the valley, the bridge lay only two li ahead.
On the west bank of the Jinma River, Jin Feng, the Ninth Princess, and the others stood atop a hill watching the boatmen busying themselves on the water.
“Sir, why did you suddenly change your mind?” the Ninth Princess asked.
If Jin Feng wished, the escorts could have torn the bridge down in half an hour at most.
Yet he had not. After the last Tubo soldier fell, he ordered the demolition team to stop.
He then had all the civilian refugees disembark and take shelter on the hill, while the boatmen secured every vessel.
“Lord Wei told me that in the previous dynasty, thousands of labourers were conscripted to build this bridge. They first dammed the upper Jinma River and spent an entire year completing it. Destroying it would cause too much hardship for the people on both banks,” Jin Feng explained. “Besides, a cornered army fights hardest. Completely cutting the Tubo retreat might only steel their resolve to fight to the death. That would harm our cause. Better to leave the bridge for now.”
“But what if the Tubo forces really manage to retake it?” the Ninth Princess asked.
