Qiang Jin Jiu (Author : Tang Jiuqing 唐酒卿)

Chapter 105 : Cunning

All votes and comments are much appreciated :)

—————

Lei Changming arrived at the mountainous area a hundred li away from Cizhou. It started to drizzle. He did not act rashly and march his troop on. Instead, he occupied the area to take a break and started to set up camp.

“They meant to fight a protracted battle.” Tantai Hu crouched in the grass and looked down. “He drags out the troops in such a long line that it’s impossible to tell how many soldiers and horses there are.”

“But their stoves are so densely clustered together that it makes me afraid just to look at it.” Ding Tao drew a circle at the spot where Lei Changming stationed his troops. “I went to the towns along the way to probe for information. All of them said he indeed brought more than 40,000 men this time. They took in all the bandits near this part of Cizhou on their way here.” 

“It’s by mixing falsehood with truth that would make it impossible for others to distinguish between truth from lies.” Xiao Chiye rose and brushed aside the branch of leaves with water droplets on it. “If he really has that many people, why would he still need to recruit deserters and traitors? An army that’s about to fight a battle fears last-minute addition of soldiers the most. That will forcibly throw the long-standing rapport between the soldiers into disarray, thereby turning a ferocious army into a motley crew.” 

“That’s what I surmised too.” Tantai Hu followed Xiao Chiye out of the forest. “The more he wants others to know he has 40,000 men, the more he has a guilty conscience. Master, he’s afraid of us.”  

Xiao Chiye took off his cloak in the drizzle and tossed it to Ding Tao behind him. As he hung up his blade, he looked at Tantai Hu and said, “If he’s afraid, he wouldn’t have come. By doing this, he’s seizing the opportunity to intimidate us. He saw that we were from Qudu and wanted to scare us.”  

A battle did not break out at the Nanlin Hunting Grounds because Qi Zhuyin led the Qidong Garrison Troops to suppress the rebellion. On the surface, it looked like it had nothing to do with Xiao Chiye. The Eight Great Training Divisions used to belittle the seemingly obsolete Imperial Army in the past back in Qudu. Although the Imperial Army had taken over Qudu’s patrols these few years, the substitution was due to a change of hands in authority. They never fought a decent battle, and so they, along with Xiao Chiye, were deemed by Lei Changming to be lads who were still wet behind the ears.

“His underestimating of the enemy is to our advantage. But if we follow suit and underestimate him too, then we deserve to be beaten. Lei Changming is no ordinary man. He must have his own strengths to be able to dominate the southeast of Zhongbo.” Xiao Chiye flipped atop the horse, lifted the reins, and said, “Tantai Hu, six years ago, you escaped from Dengzhou to Qudu, and now we have returned. Let me ask you, do you still remember what I said when you led your troops to register and join the Imperial Army?” 

The rain dropped into Tantai Hu’s eyes. He looked up at Xiao Chiye and said, “This humble subordinate would not dare to forget for even a moment. Master said that the humiliation of our nation has yet to be redressed, and the feuds of our families have yet to be avenged!” 

“That’s right.” Xiao Chiye reined in the horse and lifted his eyes to look at the dense cluster of heads in the rain. He said in a quiet voice, “The people from Biansha carried out massacres in several cities of Zhongbo. Libei Armored Cavalry and Qidong Garrison Troops fought them off, but was this enmity avenged? To the Biansha Cavalry, this was merely just them riding their horses to and fro for amusement! What was that circulating around in Qudu? They said they’d rather be a dog than a man of Zhongbo! So how can we now just hand over the humiliation Zhongbo suffered under those slaughter blades to others to redress it for us?! We gallop all night without stopping in our dreams, and now, Lei Changming is the obstacle that stands in our way. The opportunity to battle with the Biansha Cavalry is right before our eyes—do we lose?”