More than five hundred li north of Deshengbao,
At Xiaoshishan, the sky was darkening.
Li Wenjin, leading three thousand cavalry from Xuanfu, had been camped here for three days and nights, yet still awaited any news from Ma Fang. The scouts sent out had also returned with no intelligence.
At this time,
The soldiers, having eaten dried meat and fried noodles, had switched to night guard duty but dared not light any torches.
Li Wenjin stood atop Xiaoshishan, gazing into the northern wind, the hail, and the flying sand, feeling as though he had reached a dead end overnight.
According to the strategy devised previously at Zhu Mo’s courtyard in the capital, after Ma Fang attacked Xiaobaihai, he was to rely on the outer fortresses and maneuver on both flanks to delay Anda's mobilization as much as possible. However, more than a month had passed since they marched beyond the frontier, and during this time, various unbelievable events had transpired—
When Ma Fang mustered his troops to march out, all was well. With the King's Decree Flag in hand, even Ge Jin dared not disobey.
But shortly thereafter, Ge Jin’s attitude completely changed. He showed no courtesy to his own Grand General and even posted a squad to monitor him daily, keeping him unaware of any major or minor affairs. Within the Xuanfu garrison, though he was the second-highest figure, he was like a bird with its wings clipped, utterly unable to move.
At that time, he guessed that Yan Song must have personally issued strict orders, replacing all personnel in the Xuan-Da region and firmly controlling the situation. Although he intended to lead the troops out to join forces with Ma Fang and delay Anda’s departure for as long as possible, Ge Jin seemed to have anticipated this and had effectively placed him under house arrest…
During this period,
He had only received one piece of news:
About ten days after marching out, Ma Fang, more than two hundred li beyond Xiaobaihai, had captured Naj. The messenger risked his life to enter Xuanfu, and a trusted personal guard secretly relayed the message to meet at Xiaoshishan, north of Deshengbao, as soon as possible.
But how could he have gotten out of that pass?
That day,
Zhu Mo arrived in Xuanfu.
Seeing Ge Jin and the others’ peculiar attitude towards Zhu Mo, he suddenly understood everything—
Yan Song was likely acting as an inside informant for Anda’s major invasion, much like Chou Luan in years past, using Anda to counter Zhu Mo.
His only path to survival was to escape Xuanfu as quickly as possible. Fortunately, he, Li Wenjin, had reacted quickly enough. He left the banquet early that day, headed directly for Dishuiya and Maying forts, brought a few brothers of many years, and mustered a contingent of troops to escape.
But now, a month had passed since Ma Fang sent the message. What was Ma Fang’s situation? Would Anda pursue them with full force? Would he still come to Xiaoshishan? He had no certainty about any of this.
…
As he was contemplating,
A scout suddenly returned on horseback, followed by a thunderous sound of hooves. From the northwest, a cavalry of one to two thousand appeared in sight. Soon, they could clearly see faces. The man leading them was galloping like a whirlwind, his clothes tattered. Was it not Ma Fang? Beside him, surprisingly, was Wang Chonggu!
“Second Brother Li…!”
“Second Brother!”
Ma Fang, with his superb horsemanship, quickly rode to the foot of the low mountain and then directly up it. With a flourish, he dismounted.
“Second Brother, Anda has already gathered twenty-four banners of troops! Their target is Datong…”
He gulped down half a pot of water and continued, gasping for breath:
“Second Brother, I’ve found out that Zhu Mo is now in Datong. Yan’s family wants to kill him, and Anda wants to capture him… We have no time. We must go rescue him! Let’s go, Second Brother!”
At this moment,
Wang Chonggu also climbed up. The three looked at each other for a moment, feeling as if it were a dream.
Li Wenjin observed the two, his heart aching. Looking around, of the three thousand men who had marched out, less than two thousand remained, all exhausted. He wondered how many roads they had traveled and how much hardship they had endured in the past month. And now, just as they arrived, they had to gallop another hundred to two hundred li?
“Fourth Brother, can you endure it? Can the brothers endure it? Let’s rest for a day and set off early tomorrow morning!”
Wang Chonggu also advised, “Yes, let them rest. They’ve been traveling from Daqingshan for days without sleep…”
But Ma Fang urged anxiously, “No! Second Brother, Third Brother, Anda has already mobilized, eighty thousand men! All the camps are empty. The Tatars have truly gone all out! We must rush back, first rescue Zhu Mo from Datong, and then think of a way…”
As Ma Fang spoke, he prepared to remount.
Li Wenjin stopped him, about to persuade him further, when he suddenly thought of Zhu Mo. Changing his mind, he said,
“Alright! Your men should dismount and eat. We’ll depart in an hour!”
“Alright.”
…
The three ate and strategized, pooling their information. The current situation was clear to them.
For over a month, Ma Fang and Wang Chonggu had been ranging, observing frequent movements of Tatar cavalry. Many camps had their menfolk gone, and the remaining elderly, weak, women, and children were migrating north with baggage carts.
The two, familiar with the enemy’s movements, knew this was the eve of a major war! This indicated that Anda had truly initiated a full mobilization this time.
Three days prior, they had attacked a small cavalry unit and captured several Han Chinese from the White Lotus Society. Under interrogation, they learned that Zhao Quan and his associates were acting as intermediaries, and the Yan family had colluded with Anda.
Wang Chonggu, with his considerable wisdom, was the strategist among them. He immediately realized that Zhu Mo, located in Datong, was in extreme danger! Since the Yan family dared to collude with the enemy, they would certainly not let Zhu Mo go.
Ma Fang, though rough, was also meticulous. He knew that with a major battle imminent and the Yan family’s collusion, the Old Guard Army would face utter destruction. Zhu Mo, within Datong city, was truly without any support.
He was still extremely worried, unable to help but curse:
“This kid, knowing Anda would launch a major invasion, why did he come without preparing? When he asked me to pursue beyond the frontier, I thought he would request the dispatch of a large army later! Alas… idiot kid! He still doesn’t believe our words! I told him long ago that the Old Guard Army was about to be wiped out, but he didn’t believe it! Now look, Yang Xuan and the others will surely place him under house arrest, waiting to strike…”
Li Wenjin naturally knew better than him: his nephew was indeed too overconfident and unaware of the true situation in Xuan-Da, underestimating Yan Song… He himself, the Grand General of Xuan-Da, was still placed under house arrest by Ge Jin! This showed that Zhu Mo was truly in grave danger. Perhaps he was already imprisoned somewhere, waiting for Anda’s southward advance, and then they would kill him…
Suddenly standing up, he said,
“Third Brother, Fourth Brother, the situation is indeed extremely dangerous! Even I have been placed under house arrest by Ge Jin and his ilk. Who knows about the others? I think he has no manpower left in Datong, and perhaps Ma Lu and Zhang Yue will also be killed by them in one go… We’ll have to endure a little more…”
After pondering for a moment, he continued, “Have all your men change horses. Sleep for a while now, and we’ll break camp in two hours!”
After speaking, he suddenly remembered something and asked, “Didn’t you capture the Han man Naj? Where is he?”
Ma Fang chuckled sinisterly and said, “We locked him up in the Deshengbao dungeon right away. No one knows!”
“Then Anda, will he agree?”
Li Wenjin knew very well that Anda doted on this grandson, so how could he give up so easily?
Wang Chonggu smiled and said, “Anda sent several groups to pursue us, and they’ve been chasing for over a month. I think he’s changed his ways this time. If he can be saved, he’ll be saved. If not, perhaps he’ll let it go…”
Ma Fang, however, shook his head and said, “Naj is our only bargaining chip. If all else fails, we’ll make it clear to Anda and ask him to order Yan Song to release him and exchange him with us!”
Mm-hmm.