“Is there no end to this?”
Danzhu flung aside his blanket and strode out of the tent.
In the distance, toward Great Python Slope, a line of torches could indeed be seen moving about at the foot of the hill.
It was impossible to tell how many men there were or what they were doing.
“They are probably just coming down to take another piss. Ignore them!”
The memory of that afternoon cloth strip made Danzhu’s blood boil. He flicked his sleeves and turned to go back to sleep.
Yet at the entrance he paused and ordered, “Inform the western camp: triple the night patrols and sentries! Also send a few scouts to see what those Dakang fellows are up to this time.”
“Yes, sir!” His personal guard acknowledged.
Danzhu returned to his tent in irritation.
This time, however, he did not lie down. Instead he sat on the edge of the bed, waiting for the scouts to report.
He waited almost half an hour. Just as he was nodding off, the scouts finally returned.
“What are the Dakang men doing now?” Danzhu straightened and asked.
“They… they went hunting!” the scout answered after a brief hesitation.
“Hunting?” Danzhu thought he had misheard.
The Dakang soldiers were making all this commotion in the dead of night just to hunt?
“Yes, hunting,” the scout said, counting on his fingers. “They bagged one wild boar, six hares, seven pheasants… Oh, and the whole way they were singing. The same few lines over and over: Unity is strength, this strength is iron, this strength is steel, harder than iron, stronger than steel…”
The scout was an honest soul. Oblivious to Danzhu’s darkening expression, he even began singing the tune himself.
He sang rather well, actually.
He must have followed the Dakang party the entire time instead of slacking off.
The guards at the entrance exchanged baffled looks.
Was this a military report or a campfire concert?
And he was really getting into it.
“Get out!”
Danzhu kicked the scout so hard he tumbled head over heels.
Do you think this is a singing contest?
The performance was far too passionate.
Planning to give up scouting for a career in music, are you?
The scout rolled and crawled out of the tent.
Danzhu’s irritated voice followed him: “Unless the Dakang troops are genuinely assaulting the camp, do not wake me again!”
That was directed at the guards, not the scout.
Only after hearing their acknowledgement did Danzhu lay down once more.
Yet now he could not sleep. His mind returned to what the scout had said.
As a veteran general, Danzhu knew Jin Feng was not simply sending men out to hunt.
This was the exhaustion tactic Adviser Wu had spoken of. Danzhu himself had used it before.
But never with such shamelessness.
Harassment was harassment. Why pretend it was to take a piss or go hunting?
No, they actually had gone hunting.
One boar, how many hares and pheasants was it again?
Bah!
Why am I even thinking about this?
Does it matter how many rabbits they caught?
Right, and they were singing.
Unity is strength, unity is iron, unity is steel… what came after that again?
Bah!
…
Danzhu’s thoughts wandered absurdly until he finally drifted off.
For some reason, even in his dreams he felt someone singing in his ear.
He could not make out the words. It seemed to be “Unity is Strength”, yet also not quite.
The song he could neither hear clearly nor drive away infuriated him.
He dozed fitfully for an unknown time until suddenly the sound of drums thundered outside.
Years of military habit sent Danzhu springing from the bed. In the next instant he seized his sword from beside the cot and charged out.
“What is happening?” he demanded, eyes bloodshot.
“Just now the Dakang men crept to the edge of the camp and killed three night sentries,” a guard replied.
“Did I not order the western camp to triple patrols and stay alert? How did the Dakang troops get so close without being noticed?”
“General, you do not understand. The Dakang men never stop making trouble!” the guard said with a pained expression. “In the short time you were asleep, they came down the slope eight times!
As soon as we rode out, they ran back. When our men returned, they came again, singing at the top of their lungs not far from camp.
Not only the sentries but everyone in the western camp must be exhausted and deafened by now.”
“No wonder that cursed song was in my dreams…”
Danzhu clutched his forehead, speechless.
He had thought he dreamt of the song because he had heard the scout sing it once before sleeping.
He had wondered how a single hearing could leave such a deep impression.
Now he understood. While he slept, people outside the camp had been singing the whole time.
No wonder the tune was faint yet inescapable.
Bah!
There it is again!
“Continue,” Danzhu said, pulling himself together.
“The sentries were worn out by the constant harassment and let their guard down. The Dakang men seized the chance, slipped close, and shot three of our brothers with arrows,” the guard finished.
“Do we not have archers too? Send a company over. The moment they approach again, loose arrows!” Danzhu ordered.
“We did, but our bows do not outrange their crossbows,” the guard said helplessly. “And they clearly have guides who know the terrain. Some move without torches in the dark. We cannot see them.”
Danzhu was about to speak when an aged voice came from the side.
“Then order the western camp to light another ring of campfires thirty zhang outside the perimeter. That way they will have no cover to sneak close.”
Wu Zhe, wrapped in a cloak, walked up from behind the tent.
“Another ring of fires?” Danzhu considered it, then nodded. “Do as Adviser Wu says!”
“Yes, sir!” A guard ran off to relay the order.
“Adviser, did the noise wake you too?”
Danzhu turned to Wu Zhe. “It is cold outside. Come inside.”
“I was not woken. I am simply old and sleep little. I had not yet fallen asleep,” Wu Zhe replied as he entered the tent.
“It is already so late. You must take care of your health!”
Danzhu was startled. “You should be resting.”
“General, in truth you have slept less than one hour…”
A guard quietly reminded him.
“Less than one hour?”
Danzhu looked up at the sky.
Judging time by the stars was a basic skill for any seasoned general. One glance told him the guard was right.
He had indeed slept barely an hour.
“Have the Dakang men gone mad? Eight disturbances in a single hour?”
The expression on Danzhu’s face was magnificent: anger, helplessness, and disdain all mixed together.
The Dakang troops were utterly deranged.
Eight times in one hour was no different from ceaseless harassment.
“Adviser Wu, there must be a way. We cannot go on like this way. The men will be worn down completely by these Dakang bastards!”
