“General, whom do you plan to send, and with how many men?” Wu Zhe asked.
“Everyone else is tied up. Let Awang lead the attack.”
Danzhu thought for a moment and continued, “We still have five thousand infantry. Let Awang take three thousand. What does the adviser think?”
Awang had originally served under Sangji. He had come with Cidain to deliver a message, only to find himself unable to return overnight.
In a way, that had saved his life.
“Sangji had five thousand infantry, yet Jin Feng wiped them out in a single night. Does the general believe three thousand will be enough to defeat him?” Wu Zhe asked.
“That was only because Jin Feng first tricked and destroyed three thousand of Sangji’s men. Otherwise, with five thousand holding the position, Jin Feng could never have taken Mao’er Mountain!” Danzhu roared in fury.
“How does the general know Jin Feng is not using a ruse this time?” Wu Zhe pressed. “The one commanding the Dakang army now is not Meng Tianhai, but Jin Feng, and Princess Chen Wen’er is with him at Great Python Slope. Dakang morale is sky-high. Even without trickery, does the general truly believe three thousand men can take the slope?”
“Does the adviser have a plan?” Danzhu asked.
“If the general is absolutely determined to capture Chen Wen’er and Jin Feng, then I suggest we surround Great Python Slope completely,” Wu Zhe replied.
“Great Python Slope is large. A full encirclement would require virtually all our troops,” Danzhu said with a frown. “That would mean abandoning our current camp. All the preparations we have made would be wasted!”
“When I was young, my father once told me that when the enemy is too strong, never meet them head-on. Instead, divide them and eat them piece by piece.”
Wu Zhe continued, “I believe that is exactly Jin Feng’s intention: first swallow Sangji’s detachment, then lure the general into sending troops bit by bit, gradually nibbling away our strength.
Therefore, this old man believes that if the general remains still, all is well. But if he moves, he must commit everything, giving Jin Feng no opening whatsoever!”
“This…”
For a moment, Danzhu was torn.
He had to admit Wu Zhe was right. Sending only three thousand would probably fail to take the slope and might even allow Jin Feng to devour them.
The safest course was to mobilise everyone and encircle Great Python Slope completely.
Yet that would cost him his current fortified camp, an enormous price.
“General, a single order from you decides the life or death of tens of thousands of soldiers. You must never act in anger!”
Seeing Danzhu calm down, Wu Zhe advised, “Jin Feng is full of cunning and excels at borrowing momentum. Against such a man, we must be cautious, then cautious again!”
“The adviser’s instruction is correct,” Danzhu bowed with clasped hands. “Please guide me. What should we do now?”
“At present, I cannot see through Jin Feng’s game. I suggest the general refrain from rash action,” Wu Zhe said. “Below Great Python Slope lies flat ground, the domain of cavalry. With the few men Jin Feng has, he surely dares not raid our camp. Let us wait a while longer and observe his next move.”
“That makes sense,” Danzhu nodded after a pause. “We shall do as the adviser says!”
As the two men spoke, Danzhu’s personal guard captain suddenly flung open the tent flap and rushed in.
“General! Adviser! Come quickly and look!”
The captain spoke in urgent haste.
Danzhu had no time to reprimand him for the breach of etiquette and dashed out of the tent.
Wu Zhe hurried after him.
On the western horizon, a thick column of red smoke rose into the sky.
Turning eastward, they saw another column rising from within Xichuan City, this one yellow.
“What do the Dakang people mean by this?”
Danzhu turned to Wu Zhe.
“I do not know. My father spoke of beacon fires for signalling, but Dakang has never before used red and yellow smoke,” Wu Zhe shook his head.
While both men were baffled, a scout came galloping up.
“General! The Dakang troops have come down from Great Python Slope!”
The scout leapt from his horse and reported anxiously.
“What?!”
Danzhu’s expression changed dramatically.
Wu Zhe felt his face burn with embarrassment.
Last night he had predicted Jin Feng would never dare leave Mao’er Mountain, only to be proven wrong before dawn.
Just now he had said Jin Feng would not descend Great Python Slope, and the slap arrived even faster.
His words were barely cold when Dakang soldiers appeared below the slope.
“Quick! Beat the drums! Prepare for battle!”
Danzhu no longer had attention to spare for Wu Zhe’s discomfort and immediately issued combat orders.
Boom, boom! Boom, boom!
The deep thud of drums soon rolled through the Tubo camp.
The cavalrymen pricked up their ears. Hearing the pattern of two beats followed by a pause, they instantly recognised the assembly-for-battle signal.
Whatever they were doing, they dropped it and sprinted for the horse lines.
For a moment the entire Tubo camp dissolved into frantic chaos, chickens flying and dogs leaping.
Yet it must be said that Danzhu’s men were seasoned veterans. Their assembly was remarkably swift. In little more than a quarter of an hour the cavalry were mounted, the infantry formed ranks, and all gathered on the parade ground.
But by the time Danzhu led his officers out of the camp, another scout arrived with news: the Dakang troops had gone back up.
Before leaving, they had fired a single arrow toward the Tubo camp. Tied to the arrow was a strip of cloth.
The scout could not read Chinese characters, so he pulled the cloth from his breast and handed it to Danzhu.
Danzhu unfolded it and nearly spat blood in rage.
The cloth bore one short sentence: We came down the hill to take a piss. You lot rode over on horseback to watch. Shameless bastards!
Danzhu had already felt as though he had thrown a full-force punch into cotton. Now, mocked by the Dakang soldiers, he was so frustrated he almost vomited blood.
He desperately wanted to lead the entire army to encircle Great Python Slope at once.
Yet remembering Wu Zhe’s analysis, he swallowed his fury and ordered the troops back to camp.
…
At the summit of Great Python Slope, Qing Mulan watched the clouds of dust rising from the Tubo camp and laughed until she could barely stand.
“Sir, that was absolutely wicked!”
She clapped Jin Feng on the shoulder. “I would love to see Danzhu’s face right now.”
“I imagine it is quite a picture,” the Ninth Princess laughed behind her hand. “Unfortunately we cannot see it.”
“If you really want to see it, it is not impossible…”
Jin Feng looked at them. “Would you like to?”
“Sir, do not play with fire! If anything happens to Wuyang, even if we win the battle we are finished!”
Qing Mulan thought Jin Feng meant to take the princess right up to the Tubo camp to watch, and her laughter vanished in alarm.
“If you cannot speak sensibly, keep quiet. Anyone would think I plan to elope with Her Highness!”
Jin Feng gave Qing Mulan an exasperated slap on the back, then drew a metal tube from his breast with a mysterious air.
He held it to his eye, aimed toward the Tubo camp, twisted it a few times, and handed it to the Ninth Princess. “Now you can see.”
“What is it?”
Curious, the Ninth Princess copied his movements and put her eye to one end of the tube.
The next instant she leapt to her feet with a gasp, looking as though she had seen a ghost.
“What is it?”
Qing Mulan asked, puzzled.
The Ninth Princess had been trained in court etiquette since childhood; such loss of composure was extremely rare.
“You look!”
The princess passed her the tube.
Qing Mulan took it doubtfully and, like the others, placed her eye to the rear opening.
“My heavens! What treasure is this? How can it see so clearly?”
She cried out in astonishment.
