novelSusiti Chapter 71 Wei Yan crossed three mountain ridges—Sima Yi's last supply route was destroyed.
Chapter 71 Wei Yan crossed three mountain ridges—Sima Yi's last supply route was destroyed.
Chencang.
Wei Yan was gnawing on a lamb leg when he received the silk note.
The surrendered soldiers contributed these. Several live sheep were found in the city. One was slaughtered to reward the scouts. Wei Yan took a hind leg and gnawed on it, his mouth greasy.
Jiang Wei handed over the silk strip.
Wei reached out and took it. His hands were covered in oil.
"Wipe it off before you take it."
"You don't need to lick the words to read them."
The silk strip unfolded. An oil stain stained a corner. The characters weren't blurred. Liu Shan's handwriting. Small. Dense.
First line – Puban Ferry. Intercepting grain supplies. Three thousand cavalry. Taking the western route of Longyou.
The second row—three supply points along the route of the Prime Minister. (See attached map.)
The third line – the central section of Longyou, further exploration.
Turn it over. There's a line of small print on the back.
"Burn it clean. Don't keep any seeds."
Wei Yan held the silk strip up to the lamp and looked at it three times.
The lamb leg is on the shelf.
"Job".
Jiang Wei walked to the table.
Wei Yan drew a line on the table with his oiled finger. From Chencang northwards. Over mountains. Through valleys. Winding and turning. Landing west of Puban Ferry.
"Six hundred miles of mountain road."
Jiang Wei stared at the glossy line.
"A few days."
"Ten days. Fast horses can cover eight days. With supplies, it will take twelve days."
"Without baggage."
Jiang Wei looked up.
"Light cavalry. Five days' worth of dry rations. Replenish twice at the Prime Minister's supply depots along the way. By the time we reach Puban Ferry—"
Wei Yan's finger paused for a moment at the end of the oil line.
"They arrived just in time to catch up with Cao Wei's grain carts."
Jiang Wei didn't respond. He stared at the line on the table for five breaths.
"The central section of Longyou. His Majesty specifically mentioned it."
"I know. That road is narrow. There are cliffs on both sides. When you're stuck in there, even a horse can't stretch its legs properly."
Wei Yan picked up the lamb leg. He took another bite. He chewed a few times.
"So we have to investigate."
Jiang Wei shifted his gaze from the oil line.
"I'll go."
Wei Yan chewed on his meat, glancing at him sideways.
"Where are you going?"
"Vanguard. Take five hundred cavalry. Set off two days early. Clear the middle section of the valley." Jiang Wei paused for a moment. "Three of the surrendered soldiers from Chencang have crossed that valley. Crossbows can be set up on the cliff tops on both sides. Five hundred cavalry are enough to clear the area. If there are any ambushes, I'll take them out. If not, leave trail markers for the general."
Wei Yan threw the bone away and vigorously wiped his hands on his trouser leg twice.
"If you perish in the valley..."
"It can't be broken."
Wei Yan stared at him for two breaths. Twenty-seven. Young. There was a certainty in his eyes. A calculated certainty. The kind of certainty that comes from having calculated every step.
"OK."
Wei Yan stood up.
"Tomorrow morning at dawn, you go first. Take those three guides with you, and then pick seventeen more soldiers from the surrendered troops who know the way well. Make a total of twenty men."
Jiang Wei accepted the order and turned to leave.
Wei Yan walked to the door and looked outside.
The walls of Chencang were brightly lit. Surrendered soldiers were carrying things: grain sacks, weapons. They were so busy they barely had time to breathe.
Three days ago, this city was fighting him to the death. Now, the people on the city walls are doing his work.
That's how war is. When people die, they're ruthless. Those who survive—use them immediately.
"Someone come here."
The guards ran over.
"Select three thousand riders. Choose the horses, not the riders. Replace any with weak legs. Break camp at dawn tomorrow."
The guards obeyed the order and ran away.
Wei Yan returned to his desk. The oil line was still there. From Chencang to Puban Ferry. Six hundred li. Crossing three mountain ranges. Traversing two valleys. At its end—the grain carts of Cao Wei.
He wiped the oil stains on the table with his sleeve. It wasn't completely clean.
It's alright.
-
Wuzhangyuan. The Ninth Day.
Liu Shan received two letters.
The first letter. From Jiang Wei.
"The vanguard of 500 cavalry has already left the north gate of Chencang. They are taking the old Yinping road. Two days later, they will enter the western route of Longyou. There are no Cao Wei outposts along the way."
The second letter. From Zhuge Liang.
The bamboo tube was pulled apart. The silk strip was drawn out. Zhuge Liang's handwriting was a little more messy than it had been a couple of days ago. Busy.
"Wang Ping held Dong'an Pass for four days. Guo Huai launched three consecutive attacks. The crossbowmen killed 1,200 enemy soldiers. Guo Huai then retreated ten miles."
Turn it over.
"My main force has reached the northern foothills of Qishan. Tomorrow we will outflank Guo Huai's right flank. The encirclement is complete. We can break through within seven days."
A sentence was added at the end.
"If Wei Yan takes the Longyou West Road, I have already notified the garrison commander of the supply points I have set up along the Tianshui route. He can obtain the provisions with the tiger tally."
Liu Shan placed the silk strip on the table.
The letter hasn't reached Tianshui yet. The supply depot has already been arranged.
Zhuge Liang. By the time you've thought of the third step, he's already completed the logistics for the fifth step.
Zhao Yun lifted the curtain and came in.
"The north bank of the Wei River has changed today."
Liu Shan looked up.
"Sima Yi's camp. Construction began this morning."
"What kind of construction?"
"Barricades and moats. Along the north bank of the Wei River, from west to east, three li long. Two moats, three rows of deer antlers, and six crossbow platforms. Facing south, all pointing towards the Wei River."
Liu Shan's fingers stopped on the edge of the table.
To build fortifications. Fortifications.
Sima Yi was preventing him from crossing the river.
"He's not planning to come."
Zhao Yun walked up to the geomantic map. His finger landed on the line on the north bank of the Wei River.
"They've retreated. Fifty thousand men are holed up east of Chang'an. They're digging trenches and waiting for supplies."
Waiting for the grain from Hedong.
Liu Shan leaned back in his chair.
"He's gambling."
Zhao Yun turned around.
"I bet Wei Yan won't be able to intercept him."
Zhao Yun withdrew his hand from the geomantic map.
"Can you intercept it?"
"That valley in the middle of Longyou. Jiang Wei went to investigate." Liu Shan's voice was calm. "Until a reply—no one knew."
Zhao Yun didn't press the matter further. They'd fought for decades. Asking when there was no reply was pointless. He understood.
-
The curtains moved.
Dong Yun's note was passed in through the gap in the curtain.
Liu Shan glanced at it.
The first two characters are Zhou Fu.
The last two words are "abnormal".
Liu Shan's gaze lingered on the note. He remained motionless for two breaths.
"Detailed report."
Turn the note over. There are three lines on the back.
In the afternoon, Zhou Fu walked alone to the west side of the supply camp and squatted under an empty cart for about fifteen minutes.
"The soldiers followed to investigate. There was a hollow bamboo tube hidden in the interlayer of the empty car's floor."
"The bamboo tube is freshly shaved. The cut is neat. The inner wall is clean. There are no strips of cloth."
Liu Shan folded the note and clutched it in his palm.
Diabolo (Chinese bamboo tube)
There was no silk strip.
A mailbox. Someone hid a mailbox under a wagon in the supply depot. It was for people to put letters in and retrieve them.
Zhou Fu squatted there for half an hour. The bamboo tube was empty. He didn't get anything.
This means the person who sent the message didn't come.
Or perhaps the person who was supposed to deliver the letter couldn't because something went wrong.
The connection to the laundry room was broken. Liu An was detained on charges of embezzlement. From the aconite to the bamboo tube, the entire chain of transmission was severed.
Zhou Fu didn't know.
He followed the usual procedure. The appointed day arrived. He checked the mailbox. The mailbox was empty.
What will he think?
Wait. Wait a few more days. Then come back again.
If the account remains empty—he'll find another way to contact his online contact. That's when it will be harder to catch him.
"Chen Dao".
Chen Dao entered from outside the tent.
"That bamboo tube. Put it back exactly as it was."
Chen nodded.
When Zhou Fu went to see it next time—a strip of silk was stuffed into the bamboo tube.
Chen Dao stopped in his tracks.
"What are you saying?"
Liu Shan pulled out a piece of old silk from a hidden compartment—it was half a page of old silk that Liu An had found in the sole of his boot when he was imprisoned, with crooked handwriting and the strokes of a left-handed person.
Liu Shan pulled out a blank strip of silk. Facing the handwriting on the old silk, he picked up his brush and thought for three breaths.
I wrote four characters.
"Report military intelligence immediately."
The brushstrokes were deliberately bent out of shape. The left-handed character's hook. It follows the same pattern as the characters on the original silk scroll.
Chen Dao leaned over and watched for a couple of breaths.
"To make him think that the online status has been restored."
Liu Shan folded the silk strip neatly, stuffed it into a section of new bamboo tube, and handed it over.
"If he actually wrote something and stuffed it in—we'll know what he's trying to send."
Chen Dao took the bamboo tube and left the tent.
Liu Shan leaned back in his chair.
Camp chair. Hardwood. No dents.
I touched it out of habit. Still nothing.
-
The bugle call outside the tent was heard a second time.
Liu Shan did not lie down.
He sat at his desk. The geomantic map remained unopened.
He stared at the empty corner of the table—the bamboo tube meant for Zhou Fu had already been taken away by Chen Dao.
Six hundred li away. Wei Yan's three thousand cavalry will set off into the mountain road tomorrow morning.
The corner of the silk strip on the table. The oil line from Puban Ferry to Chencang. The empty cart where Zhou Fu once squatted. The last sentence on Zhuge Liang's silk strip, "Take the grain with the tiger tally." All the threads, all clutched in his hand.
But only two are fatal.
The one inside the bamboo tube. Waiting for the fish to bite.
That one in the valley. Waiting for Jiang Wei to clear the way.
Six days.
Two lines. At least one must be pulled out within six days.
The wind outside the tent changed direction. It was blowing in from the west, towards Chencang.
Liu Shan closed his eyes. He didn't lie down. He just leaned against the back of the hard wooden chair.
The dagger under my pillow won't be needed tonight.
He didn't even have time to lie down.
[End of Chapter]