novelSusiti Chapter 77: Let the fire burn brighter—let the 6 people across the street smell the aroma of food.
Chapter 77: Let the fire burn brighter—let the 6 people across the street smell the aroma of food.
Pu Ban Ferry.
Zhang He's 5,000 cavalry took three and a half days to reach their destination, half a day faster than expected. He didn't rest.
The horses rested, but the riders didn't. They changed horses along the way. Two thousand of the five thousand riders were temporary replacements assigned from Chang'an. Zhang He lost three horses.
On the morning of the fourth day, the ferry crossing came into view in the distance.
smoke.
It wasn't cooking smoke. It was embers. Dark gray. Drifting close to the ground.
A vast area. Spreading out from the western section of the official road. Stretching for two miles.
Zhang He reined in his horse.
The smell that filled my nose—burnt grain. The smell of thoroughly roasted grain. Sweet with a hint of bitterness. Choking.
He didn't speak. He spurred his horse forward. Five thousand riders followed behind. Silence.
Arrived.
On both sides of the official road. Wheel ruts. Overturned cart frames. Ox bones—some oxen didn't escape and burned to death next to the carts.
Fragments of grain sacks hung on roadside bushes. A gust of wind blew, and dust fell down.
Zhang He dismounted and squatted down in front of a pile of ashes. He reached out and dug around in them.
Ash.
It was all gray.
There wasn't even a clump of burnt grain. It was thoroughly roasted. It was drizzled with oil.
"Where are the guards?"
The lieutenant ran back from the front. He looked unwell.
"We asked the garrison at the ferry crossing. Eight hundred infantrymen—all captured. Not a single one escaped."
Zhang He stood up and brushed the dust off his hands.
"When did this happen?"
"Three days ago. The attack was launched before dawn. At least two thousand cavalry. They charged from the east. There was another force blocking the road from the west."
Three days ago. The day he set off.
Zhang He's gaze shifted from the ash heap to the west. Towards Chang'an. Three hundred li.
Five thousand riders. They came empty-handed. They returned empty-handed.
Twenty thousand shi of grain. Burned to ashes.
His mouth opened slightly. Then it closed. Then it opened again.
"Where are the Shu troops?"
"They withdrew. They left after burning it all. They went west into the mountains. The garrison at the ferry crossing said—their banners bear the surname Wei."
Wei Yan.
Where did it come from?
Zhang He's mind raced. Chencang. Chencang was in the hands of the Shu army. From Chencang, cross the mountains—the Longyou West Road—
He closed his eyes.
The Shu army crossed the mountains from Chencang to Puban Ferry. It was a 600-li (approximately 300 km) mountain road. Not a single Cao Wei outpost stopped them.
Because that road was deserted. Guo Huai was trapped in Qishan. The garrison at Chencang had all surrendered. The western front of Guanzhong was empty.
Zhang He opened his eyes.
"Return to Chang'an."
The lieutenant hesitated for a moment. "General—there's another batch of supplies transferred from Hedong at the ferry. Thirty cartloads. Salt and horse fodder. Should we—"
"Install it. Load as much as you can. The rest—"
He glanced in the direction of the ferry crossing.
"Sink them into the river. Don't leave them for the Shu army."
-
Chang'an. Commander's tent.
Zhang He's urgent letter arrived half a day before he actually did.
The scout's horse died from exhaustion. He ran the last five li on foot. When he rushed into the commander's tent, he was too weak to stand. He finished speaking while lying on the ground.
"The grain carts—all burned—20,000 shi—"
Inside the tent. Sima Yi sat behind his desk. He didn't move.
The soldier stood to the side. His face turned pale.
"Grand Tutor—"
Sima Yi rested his hands on the table, his fingers interlaced—the same posture he adopted when reading the six battle reports that day.
Quiet.
A stick of incense.
The soldier dared not even breathe.
"The garrison at Puban Ferry numbers one thousand," Sima Yi said, his voice flat. "Eight hundred infantrymen guard the supplies. A total of one thousand eight hundred men. They cannot withstand a night raid by two thousand cavalry."
He nodded in agreement to join the army.
"Wei Yan crossed the mountains from Chencang, taking the Longyou West Road."
He nodded again as he agreed to join the army.
"I, the Grand Tutor, have set up twenty-one beacon towers between Mei County and Chencang. Each tower has thirty men. They are all located on the main road to the east."
He paused for a moment.
"The mountain path to the west—is not built."
Sima Yi loosened his fingers and placed his palms flat on the table.
"The grain route from Hedong to Chang'an, via Puban Ferry, is six hundred li. I thought we only needed to defend the east—" He drew a line on the table with his finger. From east to west. "I never expected him to take a thousand-li mountain road from the west, cutting right under my nose."
The soldier managed to squeeze out a single word: "Again—again?"
"Then they will be transferred. From Bingzhou, through Huguan, around Taihang Mountains, into Henan, and finally across the river at Mengjin to Luoyang, before being transported to Chang'an."
He mentally calculated what he was going to do before enlisting. His face turned even paler.
"One month."
Eleven days' worth of food. A month's journey. Nineteen days' difference.
"Grand Tutor. Sixty thousand people have gone hungry for nineteen days—"
"I won't go hungry."
Joining the army raises one's head.
Sima Yi stood up. He walked to the tent entrance but didn't lift the curtain.
"I, the Grand Tutor, will make a decision within five days."
-
Wuzhang Plain. The thirteenth day.
Liu Shan received two letters.
The first letter. From Wei Yan.
"Zhang He's 5,000 cavalry reached Puban Ferry. They saw the ash heap, stood there for a quarter of an hour, loaded the remaining thirty carts of salt and horse feed at the ferry, sank a batch, and then turned back to Chang'an."
The second letter. From Chen.
A note. Short.
"The bamboo tube. Someone moved it this morning. The ribbon that said 'Iron nails, come quickly to make contact' was taken away and replaced with a black bean."
Liu Shan placed the note on the table.
It took the bait.
"Iron Nail" saw the strip of silk inside the bamboo tube. He took it. He returned a black bean—to confirm receipt.
"Have you checked the White Feather Soldiers? When were they taken?"
Chen arrived at the tent.
Between 3 AM and 5 AM, before dawn, during the changing of the guard by the White Feather Soldiers.
During a shift change, this man knew the White Feather Soldiers' patrol rhythm.
"Next to that empty truck in the supply depot. Between 3 AM and 5 AM. People passing by—"
"I checked." Chen Dao pulled a piece of paper from his sleeve. "No one was moving around the supply depot at that time. The two cooks on night duty were both by the stove. They didn't leave."
No one moved. But someone moved the bamboo tube.
"Can you crawl under the vehicle from outside the camp?"
Chen Dao paused in his steps.
"On the west side of the supply battalion, against the camp wall. Outside the camp wall—is the engineer battalion's material yard, piled with timber. You can reach under the vehicles by climbing over the wall from the outside."
They climbed over the wall from outside the camp, retrieved the bamboo tube, and then climbed back over the wall.
They weren't from the supply battalion.
Liu Shan tapped his fingers twice on the edge of the table.
"Engineer Battalion".
Zhao An was from the engineering battalion. Zhao An's contact, codenamed "Iron Nail," was infiltrated among the surrendered soldiers in Chencang and incorporated into the supply battalion.
But the people who came to retrieve the bamboo tubes climbed over the wall from the direction of the engineering battalion.
The "iron nails" weren't in the supply battalion. They were in the engineering battalion. Or—in a place where they could move freely between the engineering and supply battalions.
"The materials yard," Liu Shan spoke up. "Who manages the materials yard?"
Chen thought for a moment. "The engineers. Two on duty each day."
"Check who is on duty at the materials yard from 3 AM to 5 AM today."
Chen Dao left the tent.
Liu Shan leaned back in his chair.
A chain. Zhou Fu—Zhao An—iron nail. Three joints. The first two broke. The third one he joined himself.
urgent.
He was even more anxious than Zhou Fu. Because Zhao An had suddenly stopped replying to his letters. He had to come and see for himself.
When things get urgent, they'll show their true colors.
The tent flap moved. Zhao Yun entered.
"North Shore. There's been some activity today."
Liu Shan sat up straight.
"Sima Yi's camp. One-third of the outer tents have been removed and moved to the inner circle. The camp area has shrunk."
Downsizing. Sixty thousand men crammed into a smaller area. Reduced patrol radius. Reduced manpower at sentry posts.
Saves effort. Saves food.
"Where's the smoke from the chimneys?"
"It's down another 10% compared to yesterday."
Liu Shan spread out the geomantic map. His finger landed on the point in Chang'an.
Eleven days' worth of rations. When Zhang He set off, he took three and a half days' worth of rations for five thousand men from the government granary.
Twenty thousand shi of grain were burned, and this debt can't be recovered. Add to that yesterday's regular expenses. That brings it down to nine days.
"General Zilong."
Zhao Yun stopped.
"Issue an order to the entire army. From today onwards, at every mealtime—make sure the fires are burning brightly and the smoke rises high."
Zhao Yun's hand paused on the spear shaft for a moment.
Liu Shan's lips twitched slightly.
"Let him smell it."
Zhao Yun turned and left the tent. He took two steps, then stopped. He glanced back at Liu Shan.
He didn't say anything. He shook his head. And left.
The curtains fell.
Liu Shan did not laugh.
I pulled out the third draft of the strategy from under the desk. I turned to the last page.
I picked up my pen and added a line.
"On the fifth day, he couldn't take it anymore."
I put down my pen. The dagger under my pillow will continue to prick me tonight.
Not urgent.
The fish are biting the hook. The grain is burning out. Across the way, 60,000 people are starving day by day.
He doesn't have to do anything.
You can just sit down.
[End of Chapter]