Chapter 1568 – Attacking Nie Liang, Assault on Yang Tao, Blade Pointing at the World (106)
“Is it true?”
Fu Wang was already prepared to return empty-handed, never expecting Yan Lin to be a fish that slipped through his net.
Although Yang Si usually isn’t very reliable, when it comes to serious matters, he tends to be rather earnest, so he shouldn’t be someone to take advantage of.
“Why would I lie to you? I heard that Yang Tao and Yan Lin are thick as thieves; if we can capture Yan Lin, we might be able to use him to threaten Yang Tao.” Although threatening people is a bit lowbrow, in military affairs, morals don’t count—winning is what matters, and who still clings to the facade of a benevolent gentleman? “Moreover, Yang Tao has lost over a hundred thousand soldiers in this battle. Apart from a few who were hastily recruited, most are from the Southern Sheng. If Yan Lin is captured, and no one helps Yang Tao smooth things over, disaster will surely follow!”
Fu Wang could understand the first part of the statement, but the latter left him somewhat confused.
From what Yang Si was saying, could it be that Yang Tao’s character isn’t great?
Fu Wang asked bluntly, “Are you implying that you don’t hold Yang Tao in high regard?”
Even the lord himself didn’t think lowly of Yang Tao; is Yang Jingrong’s standard really that high?
“When did I ever say that?” Yang Si shook his head, “Yang Tao is one of the warlords of this chaotic era; just that alone makes him superior to countless others. I say this because Yang Tao is not one to play nice. He is straightforward and honest, belonging to that type of person who can’t tolerate nonsense. Why doesn’t General Fu consider that Yang Tao is from Dongqing, and the Southern Sheng aristocrats are willing to support him because he offers them something to gain? Now that Yang Tao’s army is in tatters, his foundation shaky, if there’s no Yan Lin to mediate, with Yang Tao’s blunt nature, conflict with the original aristocrats is inevitable. Perhaps we won’t even need to lift a finger; Yang Tao will…”
Yang Si gave Fu Wang a meaningful look and made a slicing motion across his neck with his hand.
Fu Wang was not optimistic about this conjecture. No matter how blunt Yang Tao may be, he wasn’t dumb enough to put himself in such a position.
“First things first, we must capture Yan Lin. Without the big fish Yang Tao, Yang Shaoyang definitely can’t escape.”
While Fu Wang didn’t share Yang Si’s enthusiasm for achieving military glory, he was still a man responsible for supporting a family. Unlike scholars who could thrive in both peaceful and chaotic times, soldiers only had opportunities to earn during wars—prosperity meant fewer chances.
Yang Si replied, “That’s exactly what I’m thinking.”
Though knowing Yang Tao couldn’t be caught, Fu Wang still sent men to pursue him.
It’d be great if they could catch up; if not, at least there would be a report for the lord to avoid being scolded for slacking off.
The two shifted their focus to capturing Yan Lin instead of chasing after Yang Tao, which seemed more practical.
Even though Yan Lin had some remaining soldiers, they were ragtag and lacked provisions, so they couldn’t hold out for long.
Fu Wang just needed to block the riverbanks, keep watch on the boats’ movements, and seal off Yan Lin’s escape route; they would catch him sooner or later.
“With this, it’s foolproof! Yan Shaoyang won’t be able to escape!”
Fu Wang was full of confidence, while Yang Si smiled on the side, not saying a word. He feared that speaking might get him hit.
Yang Si had an indescribable feeling that Fu Wang would likely get slapped in the face.
As it turned out, the strategist’s intuition proved to be even more accurate than a woman’s sixth sense, and Fu Wang, spreading nets everywhere, ended up catching nothing but empty air.
“You little brat! If we catch him, break his legs and see how he hops around!”
Fu Wang was busy, not only dealing with post-battle matters and soothing the local common people but also politely turning away local powers eager to curry favor, lest these clueless fools waste his time. Before he knew it, a whole day had passed, and the troops sent out hadn’t even managed to intercept Yan Lin’s remnants, who instead escaped into the deep mountains, making Fu Wang so furious he considered setting fire to the mountains to smoke them out.
“Don’t! Didn’t the lord say that setting fire to the mountains will land you in prison?”
Yang Si wore a mischievous grin, which made Fu Wang’s hand itch, wishing to give him a friendly smack.
Fu Wang spat, “Hmph! When did the lord say such nonsense?”
Yang Si chuckled, “Years ago while drinking in a brothel. If you don’t believe me, I could write a letter to confirm.”
Fu Wang: “…”
“Taking the lord to a brothel? I thought only Feng Langzi would do something like that, but I didn’t expect Yang Si to be one of the toxic weeds!”
Seeing Fu Wang’s ire rising, Yang Si hastily changed the subject and reassured him, “Right now, the weather is dry; if you really set fire to the mountains, it won’t just impact that one area. I hear there are many villages and terraced fields in the mountains—General Fu, with one match, who knows how many innocents would be caught in the blaze. If the lord finds out, you’ll surely be in for a scolding.”
Fu Wang rolled his eyes in annoyance. He had only been mad when he said that; he wouldn’t actually set fire to the mountains!
“So, what should we do now?” Fu Wang asked, “Are we just going to watch them jump around?”
Yang Si replied, “Just keep sending people to chase, block off all the exits, and let Yan Lin have nowhere to run; we can wear them down just by dragging this out.”
Fu Wang sighed and chose to follow Yang Si’s “laissez-faire” suggestion.
Just as Yang Si noted, the greatest challenge Yan Lin and his men faced was food; their rations could last only a day, and after that, they’d have to resort to killing their warhorses to fill their bellies. They had to travel across mountains and rivers, using more energy than usual, and at this rate, they wouldn’t last many days.
However, that wasn’t the worst news.
The enemy had clearly seen through Yan Lin’s scheme and had stationed heavy troops at various locales; with the current manpower, Yan Lin couldn’t force a breakthrough.
On land, checkpoints were heavily guarded, and by water, all exit points had been closely monitored; they couldn’t use boats.
It seemed like a dead end, but Yan Lin didn’t feel discouraged, let alone consider surrendering.
“I’m aware of the situation; as long as the lord is safe, that’s all that matters.”
After saying this, a sharp pain shot through his left shoulder wound, causing him to wince.
The injury was from a stray arrow when they were being chased; under normal circumstances, it wouldn’t be considered serious, but now without medics or medicines, not even clean water to wash it, he could only bandage it hastily to stop the bleeding.
With the hot weather and his heavy armor, the edges of the wound started to turn red and itch, subtly suggesting a trend towards festering.
But Yan Lin couldn’t afford to focus on that; he gritted his teeth and led his dozens of remaining soldiers into the deep mountains, seeking their destination.
No boats meant they had to make do; the bamboo here was perfect for crafting rafts.
With bamboo rafts, they wouldn’t need to rely on riverbanks and could leave under the cover of night via the waterways.
Even though this move was high-risk, it was better than doing nothing and waiting to die.
With many hands, they barely managed to survive three or four days by killing warhorses, foraging for wild grasses, and hunting beasts in the mountains.
All the while, they remained cautious to avoid being found by the enemy.
With the rafts prepared, Yan Lin asked the remaining soldiers who wished to leave with him to continue, and those who didn’t could disperse.
Even with Yan Lin’s high prestige among his troops, they were still ordinary people; after days of hardship, the morale was already shaky.
Until now, they had avoided infighting only because the soldiers could still survive.
Taking the bamboo rafts to cross the river and escape, with shortages of food and water, danger was obvious, and not everyone was willing to take the risk.
