“Can strategists not ascend the throne?”
Chapter 160 – Declaration of War Under the City
At the same time Qiao Yan’s army was attacking Longxi Commandery, Jia Xu, Qu Yi, and Chu Yan were also making their way to besiege Aowei City.
Jia Xu’s experiences living in Wuwei Commandery before his retirement made their siege efforts nearly as swift as Qiao Yan’s quick capture of Ayang and Zhang County, landing them right at the gates of Lintao.
Before Han Sui’s spies stationed at Aowei City could make it back to Jincheng to inform him, they had already lost their lives here.
When Han Sui finally received the news, Chu Yan’s troops had already secured a foothold in the mountains towards Yuzhong.
Relying solely on these five thousand men was indeed insufficient to take Yuzhong.
But Jia Xu was a cunning strategist. He’d set up a supply route between Gaoping and Aowei City, allowing Chu Yan to hold his ground against Han Sui’s attempts to drive them back.
Qu Yi wasn’t useless either.
Among the heavy infantry under Qiao Yan’s command, some were with Dian Wei while others were with Qu Yi.
As Bingzhou prepared for battle against Liangzhou, the number of heavy infantry had increased significantly compared to their attack on Luoyang.
Last year, Qu Yi ambushed Xu Rong by night with heavy shield-bearers; now, he was ready to intercept Han Sui’s forces at the valley mouth.
When the first wave of troops trying to drive the Bingzhou army out was scattered and sent back, Han Sui’s expression was anything but pleasant.
He certainly had capable generals under him.
Cheng Gongying, appointed by Han Sui, was one.
Yan Xing, a junior general he promoted, was no less formidable than Ma Teng’s son, Ma Chao, whom Han often boasted about.
Both of these men realized that to clear Chu Yan and Qu Yi’s forces from the mountain ranges on the left side of the Kuiyuan Gorge, they had to deploy more troops and prepare for the loss of many soldiers!
In such a scenario, Han Sui couldn’t even ask why they were retreating.
Even if Yan Xing confidently told him that the terrain of Kuiyuan Gorge was too unique for the Bingzhou army to directly occupy that waterway, he found no comfort in it.
The enemy’s sharp edge was pressing close at hand.
Qiao Yan’s challenge letter was still sitting on his desk, along with Fu Gan’s harsh words sent at that time, ringing in his ears.
These two indicated to Han Sui that Qiao Yan was seriously bent on attacking Jincheng.
Now, with Qiao Yan still absent and only this nameless force arriving, he already felt somewhat constrained—
This made it impossible for him not to worry about the upcoming situation.
Even more troubling was the existence of this force, possibly due to interceptions by others; he had learned that all reports coming from the direction of Gaoping City were being blocked, as if there was an omniscient eye removing all his spies one by one.
Even though Liangzhou wasn’t as unbearably hot in summer as its name suggested, Han Sui felt an inner fire brewing.
“Do you think Qiao’s Bingzhou forces might be on their way too?” Han Sui asked after Cheng Gongying and Yan Xing came back from their shift.
If it weren’t for Ma Teng already surrendering under Qiao Yan’s looming army threat, he might have speculated the same.
But now, he didn’t have to deal with that complex situation—only Han Sui was still having a headache.
Cheng Gongying pondered and replied, “Recently, battle actions in Kuiyuan Gorge have intensified, indicating the enemy may launch a final assault. However… the Qiang people from Wuwei Commandery are reluctant to provide us with more intel, so I can’t make an accurate judgment.”
Hearing this, Han Sui couldn’t help but slam his fist on the table.
And it wasn’t just because there were men from Wuwei Commandery among the Bingzhou army.
When Jia Xu was kidnapped by the Qiang years ago, he could still claim to be the grandson of Grand Commandant Duan Jiang. Now, given that Duan Jiang had long passed, even if he claimed to be Dong Zhuo’s son-in-law, the Qiang wouldn’t listen to him.
So he had no authority over them.
The Qiang’s reluctance to serve Han Sui stemmed from his failure to honor the meeting at Fengyi Mountain, while Qiao Yan was wielding a hefty axe against the Qiang near Gaoping, executing a ruthless “those who obey shall prosper, those who resist shall perish” act.
This army, now firmly based in Liangzhou, appeared to the Qiang as a target for their frustrations after Han Sui’s failure to confront them.
Why should they get involved in matters of blood vengeance?
Qiao Yan’s open maneuvering indeed caused some trouble for Han Sui’s actions and made him lose several potential allies.
With fewer options at hand, he felt even more constrained than before.
Cheng Gongying noticed Han Sui’s glum expression and refrained from interrupting his thoughts.
After a while, Han Sui finally frowned and said, “We can’t wait any longer; we need to reinforce!”
No matter if Qiao Yan, the commander, was already on his way to Jincheng, he could not remain in such a passive state any longer!
After granting Cheng Gongying the authority to mobilize troops, sending another four thousand soldiers from the city, Han Sui took a moment to compose himself and picked up a pen to write letters.
One letter was addressed to Dong Zhuo.
This powerful minister now wielding authority in Chang’an couldn’t expect the Liangzhou warlords to serve him without also considering the security of his own Guanzhong region.
If he truly faced a life-and-death crisis, having all these Liangzhou “rebels” wiped out wouldn’t guarantee Dong Zhuo’s peaceful days!
The second letter was for Ma Teng.
In accordance with Han Sui’s “dignity,” he wouldn’t show weakness in his writing, saying that—
Given Qiao Yan’s army approaching, with the Qiang being unreliable, only a closer alliance between their two parties could assure mutual assistance against threats, rather than one abandoning the other when in need.
To show goodwill, he was willing to send his eldest son to Ma Teng as a hostage, while expecting Ma Teng to reciprocate by sending his own son in exchange.
Han Sui didn’t pin his hopes on Ma Teng to kindly send over Ma Chao to serve as his muscle.
But at least with this exchange, he’d have an extra safeguard against potential treachery from allies.
The third letter… no, rather a series of letters were addressed to other factions within Liangzhou.
He wrote to Cheng Yi, Hou Xuan, Zhang Heng, Liang Xing, and others.
These people, whether Qiang or Han, shared a common trait: post the Han’s loss of control over Liangzhou, they had gradually formed local factions relying on their followers.
This was determined by Liangzhou’s mountainous terrain.
However, they weren’t like Ma Teng or Han Sui, who could occupy an entire commandery or even be conferred the title of general by Dong Zhuo.
Compared to warlords, Han Sui saw them more like petty bandit leaders.
But nowadays, even bandits would be useful to him.
Writing to these folks required a different tone than the letters for Dong Zhuo and Ma Teng.
And unlike the prior two, these people were more likely to serve as shields he selected, meant to weaken Qiao Yan’s faction.
Their fighting capabilities were nowhere near those of the regular army, but their sudden appearance would still be bothersome, granting him an opportunity.
Unfortunately, gaining their service would require more effort in playing word games to entice them.
Thankfully, Han Sui, being a scholar, found the writing process manageable.
He understood better than anyone else what these folk truly wanted!
Just as he was contemplating, someone suddenly burst through the door of his study.
The unexpected noise startled him, causing his hand to twitch and his pen to scratch a black mark on the paper.
Looking up, Han Sui shouted at the intruding subordinate, “What on earth is your rush? Have you forgotten the rules of announcement?”
The subordinate, still pale with fright, replied, “No! It’s serious! Ma Chao is coming from the west of Jincheng.”
Just Ma Chao would not cause such a big stir.
His next sentence confirmed Han Sui’s suspicions.
“It’s just Ma Chao! And the Bingzhou army—”
“The Bingzhou army came along with Ma Chao!”
This was simply catastrophic news!
Han Sui’s eyelid twitched; he didn’t even care about the letter he was writing. He put his pen down on the desk and got up to head straight to the city wall with his subordinate.
In Jincheng County, the only area truly considered open in the river valley was this very Jincheng city.
The largest water system traversing through the river valley basin was the Yellow River.
Although the moat couldn’t directly draw water from the Yellow River, it still provided a protective barrier for the city gates.
However, this barrier was meant to guard against the Qiang and Hu tribes from the north, positioning this county city just south of the Yellow River.
Because of this, when enemies approached from the west, the only things that could serve as a shield for Jincheng were the moat and city wall, as the Yellow River was not a natural defense in this case.
Most of the time, this wasn’t an issue, since the defenders of Jincheng would inevitably keep the neighboring Huanzhong and Longxi in their own hands.
Just like Han Sui’s current situation, where the Qiang people in Huanzhong had maintained a friendly relationship with him, along with about a thousand soldiers under his command, who were responsible for hauling salt from the Chaka Salt Lake over four hundred miles westward to support him in recruiting soldiers.
To the south, Longxi was where Ma Teng resided, thereby not needing much caution either.
But today…
Today, an unexpected situation arose!
As Han Sui glanced to the west, the soldiers pouring forth from between the gorges and gradually spreading out in the open clearly did not belong to any ally of his, but rather looked exactly like the Bingzhou army configuration he had previously sent scouts to investigate.
They gathered behind a banner about a thousand steps away, already forming a lineup of about five or six thousand men.
This was just the beginning.
Han Sui could see from the rear, below Tiger Head Cliff, that more troops were continuously advancing.
Given this scale of the army, even though he couldn’t make out the characters on the commander’s banner just yet, it was easy to determine—
This could only be the Bingzhou army!
The subordinate who had just delivered the news had come to this same conclusion.
And the only person he and his subordinates recognized leading a group of cavalry was none other than Ma Chao.
Ma Teng’s eldest son had a reputation for coming and going like the wind, wild and unruly. Even if only a faint shadow of him appeared in the distance, it wouldn’t be mistaken, especially since he had visited Jincheng several times over the past two years, leaving a deep impression on Han Sui.
Seeing this scene, Han Sui instinctively clenched his fists.
Jincheng County, which he thought was the safest, suddenly faced a surprise enemy attack from the rear, completely disrupting his plans to send messages to all sides.
Ma Chao’s appearance also meant he had to confront a harsh reality—
His cooperative relationship with Ma Teng, which could be described as mutually beneficial, had silently shifted towards Qiao Yan.
Only this fool Han Sui remained oblivious, still on guard against movements from Kuiguan Gorge and wary of the opponent’s major offensive.
This was truly absurd!
Absurd…
“Watch out, General!”
Han Sui was abruptly pulled down to the ground by that subordinate who had delivered the news.
Just as he fell, a sound like something slicing through the air exploded above him.
Han Sui looked up and saw a feathered arrow, taller than a person, embedded in the rammed earth of the city tower where he had previously stood.
If he hadn’t been distracted before, and his subordinate hadn’t pulled him down in time, he would have been dead by now.
A hint of fear flashed across his face.
But once he regained his composure, Han Sui, true to his tyrant disposition, didn’t care about appearances as he retreated behind the watchtower and ordered someone to retrieve the arrow and bring it to him.
In the previous moment of panic, he hadn’t missed that a string was tied to the end of the arrow, clearly a message from the other side sent in this manner.
When the silk cloth unfolded before him, the first thing he saw at the end was the signature, which was undoubtedly Qiao Yan.
How wonderful!
Even before the battle commenced, a message was shot directly over—this was clearly something Qiao Yashu would do.
Han Sui couldn’t afford to ponder how precisely the heavy crossbow arrow had been shot; instead, he focused on the message.
Or rather, it might be more suitable to call it a declaration of war.
After all, Han Sui had already seen her writing that—
【Recently, I hope to speak of rectifying my grievances, the banner pointing west, the Qiang and Di tribes have their hands tied, with Hanyang opening the road, Longxi returning to allegiance, soon gathering a great army of one hundred thousand to join you for a hunt in Jincheng.】
Whether Qiao Yan truly commanded a hundred thousand troops, Han Sui couldn’t be sure.
Logically, it should be an exaggeration, but if what Qiao Yan said about the soldiers from Hanyang returning to her command and combining with Ma Teng’s forces, along with the Qiang she had rallied and the main Bingzhou troops, perhaps she could indeed muster that kind of number.
And as for the troops currently in Jincheng, there weren’t that many either, which could easily be explained by a substantial portion heading towards Kuiguan Gorge to assist the besieged forces.
Considering this possibility, Han Sui’s gaze was drawn back to the words “for a hunt.”
With the rear cut off and more troops advancing from the front, it was hard not to feel as if he was the hunted prey in this hunt.
His breath caught for a moment before he continued reading.
The next two sections, as most might expect, were a righteous interpretation of her phrase【rectifying my grievances】.
Han Sui had already known from the earlier letters she sent about her resolute intent to attack, so seeing these harsh words again didn’t move him.
Even when she wrote that he was a coward who dared not respond to the Battle of Fengyi Mountain, Han Sui chose to ignore it.
However, it was clear that receiving a letter through such a newfangled method still required some fresh commentary.
She casually wrote that Ma Teng, influenced by the virtues of the Wang Shi, sent Ma Chao to greet them at Lintao, with not one casualty among the attackers. As she followed the Tiao River down, she found the leisure to admire the scenery as she advanced on Jincheng.
There’s an old saying about clear demarcations, yet who would have guessed that here in Liangzhou there is a distinction between Tiao River and Yellow River.
If someone had mentioned it without her witnessing it herself, she would think it was Tiao River that was clear and Yellow River that was murky.
But actually, it was the opposite.
【Yan is fortunate to see this scene; indeed, it’s the Tiao River that is turbid, and Yellow River that is clear. On the mountains, yellow and green are clearly distinct, yet as the silt flows down, they eventually merge and engulf. Just like you, General.】
【You pride yourself on being a staunch and upright person, wanting to elevate your status using the esteemed reputation of Yan Zhong, only to incite his anger and demise. You enjoy the title of Left General and scheme to seize Jincheng, self-righteous yet actually a traitor. You aim to muddy the waters while wanting to claim the clear realm of the vast river.】
【This can be called a case of “when in Rome, do as the Romans do.”】
Han Sui had never seen someone use the phrase “when in Rome, do as the Romans do” to insult another!
As she wrote to this point, she naturally began detailing just how tarnished a person Han Sui was.
She didn’t even need to fabricate anything.
After Ma Teng defected to Qiao Yan, he didn’t want to fall behind his son, so he simply revealed all the deeds Han Sui had committed over the years.
Despite knowing that what she mentioned had indeed happened, Han Sui couldn’t help feeling a surge of burning anger upon seeing such pointed accusations, almost wishing to dash down and take a swing at her.
He bit back his nearly explosive emotions and looked at the last few lines, realizing for the first time that Dong Zhuo’s reluctance to come to Liangzhou and stop Qiao Yan’s offensive might have been for a reason.
He probably didn’t want to receive a second letter calling for Dong Zhuo’s downfall!
Those final few lines were truly suffocating.
It was because she wrote—
【Is the General’s defense of Jincheng due to unforeseen circumstances? Will you cry before the battle?】
【Regardless of grievances, there must be a gentleman’s demeanor. This silk cloth is prepared for you to use.】
The implication was clear; Qiao Yan had boasted and insulted him, challenged him, and now even made sure to maintain the last formality.
If Han Sui wanted to shed some tears to express his hard-luck betrayal of the Han Dynasty, that was fine; after all, she even prepared a silk handkerchief (declaration of war) for him to wipe away his tears.
So he couldn’t say she made an unprovoked attack without any martial decorum!
Han Sui’s expression slowly stiffened as he stood there.
At that moment, only one phrase remained in his mind.
This Qiao Yashu is truly an audacious and shameless person!
