Chapter 160

Chapter 160: Declaring War Under the City

Can a strategist not ascend the throne? Volume 5: The Han Divided, Battles in Hexi Chapter 160: Declaring War Under the City

Source Book: Can a Strategist Not Ascend the Throne?

Chapter 160: Declaring War Under the City

At the same time as Qiao Yan led her troops to attack Longxi Commandery, the forces led by Jia Xu, Qu Yi, and Chu Yan had already advanced to take the city of Weicheng.

Jia Xu’s past life experience in Wuwei Commandery before his retirement made the efficiency of capturing cities no slower than Qiao Yan’s swift capture of Ayang and Zhang County, reaching the gates of Lintao.

The spies Han Sui had stationed in Weicheng had no time to return to Jincheng to report to Han Sui before they lost their lives there.

By the time Han Sui actually received the news, Chu Yan’s troops had already firmly established themselves in the mountains between Weicheng and Yuzhong.

With only five thousand men, it was indeed insufficient to advance on Yuzhong.

But Jia Xu was a cunning and experienced strategist. His allocation of personnel was astute and shrewd. He first established a supply route between Gaoping and Weicheng, allowing Chu Yan to successfully fend off Han Sui’s attempts to repel them after setting up camp.

Qu Yi was naturally not useless.

Part of Qiao Yan’s heavy infantry was under Dian Wei’s command, and part was under Qu Yi’s command.

With Bingzhou’s preparations for this battle in Liangzhou, the number of heavy infantry had increased significantly compared to the time of the attack on Luoyang.

Last year, Qu Yi could ambush Xu Rong with heavy shield infantry at night, and now he could lead his troops to intercept Han Sui’s army at the valley entrance.

After the first batch of troops attempting to expel the Bingzhou army was scattered and returned, Han Sui’s expression was not good upon receiving the news.

He was not without capable generals.

Cheng Gongying, whom he had appointed as his Chief Clerk, was one.

The young general Yan Xing, whom he had promoted, was no less in martial prowess than Ma Teng’s boastful son Ma Chao.

Both of them judged that to clear the forces led by Chu Yan and Qu Yi from the left side of Kuiyuan Gorge, they would need to send more troops and be prepared for significant casualties!

Under such circumstances, Han Sui could not ask why they had been defeated.

Even if Yan Xing could confidently tell him that the terrain of Kuiyuan Gorge was too special, and the Bingzhou army stationed in Weicheng could at best stalemate with them and could not directly seize the gorge’s waterway, Han Sui could not feel any comfort.

The enemy’s edge was already pressing close.

Qiao Yan’s challenge letter for a battle at Fengyi Mountain was still on his desk, along with Fu Gan’s scolding when he delivered the letter, which seemed to still ring in his ears.

Both of these made it clear to Han Sui that Qiao Yan’s determination to attack Jincheng was strong.

Now, Qiao Yan herself had not yet appeared, and only this unknown force had arrived, already making him feel somewhat constrained—

This made him worry about what would come next.

What was more troublesome was that because of the presence of this force, or perhaps because of others intercepting, all the intelligence he could have received from the direction of Gaoping City was intercepted outside, as if there was a pair of all-seeing eyes, removing the spies he had planted one by one.

Even though Liangzhou was as its name suggested, not particularly hot in the summer, Han Sui still felt like he was getting angry.

“Do you think Qiao Bingzhou’s troops are also on their way?” Han Sui asked Cheng Gongying after he and Yan Xing had switched shifts.

If Ma Teng had not already surrendered under the threat of Qiao Yan’s approaching army, he might have made such a speculation upon learning of Han Sui’s situation.

But now he did not have to face such troublesome questions, only Han Sui was still troubled.

Cheng Gongying thought for a moment and replied, “The battle at Kuiyuan Gorge has intensified in the past two days, possibly indicating that the enemy is about to launch a final attack. However… the Qiang people in Wuwei Commandery are unwilling to provide us with more information, so I cannot make an accurate judgment.”

Hearing this, Han Sui could not help but pound the table with his fist.

This was not just because there were people from Wuwei Commandery in the Bingzhou army.

When Jia Xu was kidnapped by the Qiang people in his early years, he could still claim to be the grandson of Grand Commandant Duan Jiong, but now that Duan Jiong had long since passed away, even if he claimed to be Dong Zhuo’s son-in-law, the Qiang people would not listen to him.

So he did not have the ability to command the surrounding areas.

The Qiang people were unwilling to serve Han Sui because he had abandoned the appointment at Fengyi Mountain, and Qiao Yan had made a big show of “those who submit prosper, those who resist perish” with the Qiang people in the Gaoping City area.

This force, which had firmly established itself in Liangzhou, was now seen by the Qiang people in Wuwei Commandery as venting their anger at Han Sui for not coming to fight, and then turning their attention back to the main target.

Matters of blood debt and enmity, why should they interfere!

Qiao Yan’s open strategy had indeed caused some trouble for Han Sui’s actions, and he had lost many potential allies.

Without these allies, he was much more constrained than before.

Seeing Han Sui’s expression, Cheng Gongying did not interrupt his contemplation.

It was only after a long while that Han Sui frowned and said, “We can’t wait any longer, send more troops first!”

Regardless of whether Qiao Yan, the commander, was already on her way to Jincheng, he could no longer remain in such a passive state!

After giving Cheng Gongying the authority to mobilize troops and having him transfer four thousand more soldiers from the city, Han Sui pondered for a moment and then took up pen and paper to write letters.

One letter was to Dong Zhuo.

This Grand Chancellor, who now held great power in Chang’an City, since he wanted them, the Liangzhou warlords, to serve him, could not just care about the safety of his own Guanzhong region.

If he truly faced a life-and-death disaster, once these Liangzhou “rebels” were pacified, could Dong Zhuo really live in peace?

The second letter was to Ma Teng.

With Han Sui’s “self-esteem,” he would not show weakness in his writing, but instead said—

Given that Qiao Yan’s army was approaching, the Qiang people might not be reliable, and only a closer alliance between them could ensure that when one side faced a threat, the other would come to aid, rather than being forced to defect.

To show sincerity, he was willing to send his eldest son to Ma Teng as a hostage, and in exchange, Ma Teng should also send his son to him.

Han Sui did not expect Ma Teng to be kind enough to send Ma Chao over to serve as a fighter for him.

But at least with this exchange, he would have an additional safeguard against betrayal by his ally.

The third… no, several other letters were to other forces within Liangzhou.

He wrote to Cheng Yi, Hou Xuan, Zhang Heng, Liang Xing, and others.

These people, whether Qiang or Han, had one thing in common: after the Han Dynasty lost control of Liangzhou, they gradually formed local power bases with their own forces.

This was determined by the mountainous terrain of Liangzhou.

However, they were not like Ma Teng and Han Sui, who could occupy an entire commandery and even be appointed as generals by Dong Zhuo.

Compared to warlords, in Han Sui’s view, they were more like insignificant bandit leaders.

But now, even bandits were useful to him.

The tone of the letters to these people had to be different from those to Dong Zhuo and Ma Teng.

And compared to the former two, these people were more like the shields he had chosen, tools to weaken Qiao Yan’s forces.

Their combat ability was by no means comparable to that of regular troops, but their sudden appearance would still be troublesome, and that would be his opportunity.

Unfortunately, to make them serve him, he would have to play some word games and lure them with benefits.

Fortunately, Han Sui was after all a civil official, and writing these was not difficult.

He also knew better than anyone what these people really wanted!

However, just as he thought of this, the door to his study was suddenly burst open.

The sudden noise startled him, causing his hand to shake and the brush to leave a streak of ink.

Han Sui looked up and shouted at the subordinate who had burst in, “What’s the matter, so panicked? Have you forgotten the rules of reporting?”

The subordinate’s face still showed fear as he replied, “No! It’s urgent! Ma Chao has come from the west of Jincheng.”

If it were just Ma Chao, it would not have caused such a loss of composure.

His next sentence confirmed Han Sui’s judgment. “Not only Ma Chao, but also…”








It’s just Ma Chao! And the Bingzhou army—”

“The Bingzhou army is coming with Ma Chao!”

This is absolutely terrible news!

Han Sui’s eyelids twitched, and he couldn’t care less about the letter he was writing. He immediately put down his brush on the desk and stood up, following his subordinate straight to the top of the city wall.

In Jincheng County, the only place truly located in the open river valley is Jincheng County itself.

The largest water system running through the river valley basin is the Yellow River.

Although the moat cannot directly draw water from the Yellow River, it still serves as a protective barrier for the city.

But this barrier is meant to defend against the Qiang and Hu tribes from the north, so this county city is located south of the Yellow River.

Because of this, when enemies come from the west, the only barriers Jincheng County has are the moat and the city walls, without the natural defense of the Yellow River.

Most of the time, this isn’t a problem, because those defending Jincheng would surely control the areas of Huangzhong to the west and Longxi County to the south.

Just like Han Sui’s current situation, the Qiang people in Huangzhong to the west still maintain friendly relations with him, along with about a thousand of his men responsible for transporting salt back from the Chaka Salt Lake, four hundred miles west of Huangzhong, as supplies to recruit soldiers and buy horses. Longxi to the south is where Ma Teng is, so theoretically, there’s no need for extra vigilance.

But today…

Today, an unexpected situation arose!

When Han Sui looked to the west, the soldiers emerging from the mountain gorge and gradually spreading out in the open area clearly didn’t belong to any of his allied forces. Instead, they resembled the Bingzhou army configuration he had previously sent people to investigate.

They gathered behind the banners about a thousand paces away from him, already forming a force of five to six thousand.

And this was just the beginning.

Han Sui clearly saw that from the foot of Hutou Cliff in the rear, more troops were continuously emerging.

It was precisely because of this scale of movement that even though he couldn’t clearly see the characters on the commander’s banner, it wasn’t hard to make a judgment—

This could only be the Bingzhou army!

The subordinate who had just reported to him had come to the same conclusion.

And the only one he and his men could recognize was Ma Chao, leading a group of cavalry at the front.

Ma Teng’s eldest son, with his swift and unruly demeanor, would never be mistaken even if only a faint figure appeared in the distance, let alone the fact that he had visited Jincheng several times in the past two years, leaving a deep impression on Han Sui.

Seeing this, Han Sui instinctively clenched his fist.

The Jincheng County he considered safest had suddenly been attacked from the rear, completely disrupting his plan to send letters to various parties.

Ma Chao’s appearance also meant he had to accept a reality—

Ma Teng, whose cooperation with him was as close as lips and teeth, had quietly switched sides to Qiao Yan.

Only he, the fool, was still cluelessly guarding against movements from Kuiyuan Gorge, wary of a large-scale attack from the enemy.

This situation was truly absurd!

Absurd…

“General, be careful!”

Han Sui was suddenly yanked to the ground by the subordinate who had just reported to him.

At the same moment he fell, a whistling sound exploded above his head.

Han Sui looked up and saw a half-man-high arrow embedded in the rammed-earth watchtower behind where he had just been standing.

If his subordinate hadn’t pulled him down in time during his moment of distraction, he would already be dead.

A look of fear flashed across his face.

But after regaining his composure, Han Sui, true to his ruthless nature, didn’t care about his image and retreated behind the watchtower, ordering someone to retrieve the arrow and bring it to him.

In the chaos earlier, he hadn’t missed the fact that a piece of cloth was tied to the end of the arrow, clearly indicating that the other side had something to say, sending it over in this manner.

When the silk cloth was unfolded before him, the first thing he saw was the signature at the end, unsurprisingly, it was Qiao Yan.

Well done!

Before the battle even started, she had already sent an arrow without explanation, something Qiao Yanshu would definitely do.

Han Sui couldn’t spare a thought at this moment to wonder how the heavy crossbow arrow had achieved such precise accuracy. Instead, he first read the message sent by the arrow.

Or perhaps it would be more appropriate to call it a declaration of war.

After all, right at the beginning, Han Sui saw her write—

“Recently, I have been ordered to punish crimes, with banners pointing west. The Qiang and Di tribes have surrendered, Hanyang has opened the way, and Longxi has submitted. Together, we have amassed an army of a hundred thousand, ready to meet the general for a hunt in Jincheng.”

Whether Qiao Yan truly had a hundred thousand troops, Han Sui couldn’t be sure.

Logically, this should be an exaggeration, but if, as Qiao Yan said, the soldiers of Hanyang County had joined her, along with Ma Teng’s forces, the Qiang people she had won over, and the Bingzhou troops, perhaps she really could gather that number.

And even if there weren’t that many at the foot of Jincheng now, it could be explained by the fact that a significant portion of the forces had gone to Kuiyuan Gorge to assist the troops coming from Aowei City.

Thinking of this possibility, Han Sui’s gaze lingered on the words “hunt.”

With his retreat cut off and reinforcements arriving in front, it was hard not to feel like he was the prey in this hunt.

His breath hitched for a moment before he continued reading.

The next two paragraphs were, unsurprisingly, an explanation of the righteousness behind her “punishing crimes.”

Han Sui had already known from her previous letter to Han Yue how determined she was to attack, so seeing these sharp words now didn’t faze him.

Even when she wrote about cowardly rats not daring to face the battle at Fengyi Mountain, Han Sui simply ignored it.

But clearly, a letter sent in such a novel way had to have some fresh content.

She casually mentioned that Ma Teng, moved by the loyalty and righteousness of the royal army, had sent Ma Chao to welcome them to Lintao. Without a single casualty during the city’s capture, she had the leisure to enjoy the scenery while advancing down the Tao River to take Jincheng County.

There’s an old saying about the clear distinction between the Jing and Wei rivers, but who would have thought that in Liangzhou, there’s also a clear distinction between the Tao River and the Yellow River.

If someone had mentioned this to her before she saw it herself, she would have thought the Tao River was clear and the Yellow River muddy.

But in reality, it’s the opposite.

“I was fortunate to witness this scene: the Tao River is muddy, and the Yellow River is clear. On the mountain ridges, the yellow and green colors are starkly distinct, but as the silt flows downstream, they inevitably merge and encroach upon each other. This is quite similar to the general.”

“You claim to be a righteous and upright man, using the reputation of the scholar Yan Zhong to elevate yourself, yet you caused his death in anger. You hold the title of Left General and seek to seize Jincheng, claiming it’s justified, yet you are a traitor. You are like the muddy waters of a narrow stream, trying to taint the clear waters of the great river.”

“This can be called ‘when in Rome, do as the Romans do.'”

Han Sui had never seen anyone use “when in Rome, do as the Romans do” to insult someone!

After this, she naturally went on to describe how Han Sui was truly muddy.

She didn’t even need to make anything up.

After Ma Teng defected to Qiao Yan, he didn’t want to lag behind his son in contributing, so he spilled all of Han Sui’s actions over the years.

Even though he knew everything she said was true, Han Sui couldn’t help but feel a burning rage in his heart as he read these sweeping accusations, wishing he could rush down the city walls and fight her to the death.

He forced himself to suppress his nearly explosive emotions and looked at the last few lines, realizing for the first time that there might be a reason Dong Zhuo didn’t come to Liangzhou to stop Qiao Yan’s campaign.

He probably didn’t want to receive a second proclamation denouncing Dong Zhuo!

Those last few lines were truly the most suffocating.

Because she wrote—

“General, are you holding Jincheng out of necessity? Will you cry before the battle?”

“Regardless of grudges, a gentleman should have manners. This silk cloth is for you to use.”

The implication was clear: Qiao Yan had boasted, insulted, and provoked, and now she had even extended the final courtesy.

If Han Sui wanted to cry to show that he had no choice but to betray the Han Dynasty, that was fine. After all, she had prepared the silk cloth (declaration of war) for him to wipe his tears.

So he couldn’t say her sudden divine descent was dishonorable!

Han Sui’s expression slowly froze in place.

Only one thought remained in his mind.

This Qiao Yanshu is truly a shameless person!