Chapter 720 - Buck Passing Alliance Meeting (VII)
Chapter 720: Buck Passing Alliance Meeting (VII)
“Master Meng predicted it like magic! The alliance turned out to be a useless mob indeed!”
Prince Changshou used to have a scruple about the alliance because of its size. Their military camp was said to cover over 60 miles. Picturing that alone sent a chill up the spine.
He thought that since the alliance had almost gathered all its forces, it was about time for them to march their way over. Surprisingly, they had not moved for days. Instead, everyone indulged themselves in corporal enjoyment. No sign of taking action at all. Almost a week had passed by and still nothing. Prince Changshou was thrilled.
According to Meng Zhan, Prince Changshou had ordered his forces to stay put and confuse the alliance. That way, they could stay contented with an elusive sense of security. He had also sent a special force to go around and strike Chenzhou by surprise. As soon as he captured the emperor and took the throne, he could knight the lords within the alliance and break it apart from the inside. He would not even need to fight them.
Everything was going as planned. Why wouldn’t he be thrilled?
Meng Zhan donned a pitch-black Confucian gown and carried a jade-framed folding fan closed in his hand. The fan had several worn spots on its pendant.
It used to be the favorite of his late son, Meng Liang. Since his son’s passing, he liked to hold onto it.
“I suggest we remain vigilant, my lord. It’s not over yet.” Meng Zhan’s smile was cold. “This morning, a scout reported that something has changed within the alliance. Yang Jian made a big scene, yelling at them for slacking and being greedy. Perhaps, in order not to lose too much face, they have already regrouped their forces to attack Jiamen Pass.”
Prince Changshou’s face went pale when he heard the news, looking as if he’d plastered on too much face powder.
“How… how do we handle this? How can I stop those traitors?”
Jiamen Pass was the only route from Huangshui County to Chenzhou.
With the help of the Mengs from Cangzhou, Prince Changshou had already occupied about one-fifth of Chenzhou. His force was now in a stalemate with the emperor’s army at another pass.
If the alliance took Jiamen Pass, they could catch up with Prince Changshou’s forces within two days.
If that happened, Prince Changshou’s forces would be flanked.
Meng Zhan’s smiling face maintained his signature coldness. “What’s there to be afraid of? We can focus on attacking Chenzhou because they picked Jiamen Pass. If they decide to divide their forces, we’ll have real trouble. Jiamen Pass is located on a key spot in the mountains and is extremely hard to get past. The mountain ranges rise and fall. Two peaks flank Jiamen Pass like a huge gate. It’s not an easy path to take on.”
Prince Changshou was still anxious. Jiamen Pass certainly would not be easy to take. But the alliance had 400,000 men. All they needed to do to win was outnumber his men.
“Master Meng, the alliance has the advantage of headcount. I’m afraid Jiamen Pass can’t stop them. If they take advantage of their…”
“That’s impossible,” Meng Zhan said decisively. His eyes were icy. “Your highness overrates their dignity. They are nothing but a crowd of greedy men. Who would sacrifice their men just to let other forces walk over their friends’ bodies? No one! So please do not worry, your highness. Jiamen Pass can hold them off for at least half a month. That’s enough time for us to get you on that throne!”
The alliance had many good fighters, yet their selfishness would spoil their advantage.
So many elite soldiers and officers would be stopped at Jiamen Pass.
Meng Zhan lightly smacked his palm with the fan. His eyes were sharp, cold-blooded violence lurking beneath them.
“Jiamen Pass is known for being more easily defended than attacked. God knows how long it will take the alliance to take it, if ever.”
In the meantime, the alliance had set out. They eventually encamped outside Jiamen Pass. Jiang Pengji and Huang Song took several men with them for patrol duty.
Standing on top of the mountain, they took a far-sighted view and saw Jiamen Pass through the mist.
Jiang Pengji had excellent eyesight, so she could see better. She soon discovered some quite recent signs of damage.
Not long ago, Jiamen Pass had still belonged to the imperial court. The leader of the defending forces was an experienced general who relied on Jiamen Pass’s natural advantage of its terrain to keep his enemy away. No matter how Prince Changshou’s men attacked or provoked them, they would not come out, determined to guard it.
Unfortunately, Prince Changshou’s forces had broken through Jiamen Pass in the end.
Huang Song knew that Jiamen Pass was way harder to break than to defend. So how had they done it? By outnumbering the defending troops?
Feng Zhen and several other men emerged from the camp to get some fresh air. They also wanted to take a look at the situation and see if they could get any good ideas.
“Have you already figured it out, my lord?” Feng Zhen asked Jiang Pengji.
Cheng Jing and Feng Jue exchanged looks in silence. Was that even right?
In such a situation, wasn’t the lord usually the one asking his advisor for suggestions? How come it was the other way around?
“I believe they used fire,” Jiang Pengji said slowly, squinting her eyes.
“Based on the scout’s report, there were, in fact, signs of fire damage. But it’s still not warm enough for the snow to melt. There are also cliffs around the Pass. All the weeds and random plants have been cleared out. How did they attack with fire when there was still snow everywhere?”
It did sound impossible. There wasn’t much available to burn.
The corners of Jiang Pengji’s mouth lifted slightly in a smile of irony. The same idea on her mind also occurred to Yang Si and other men.
“Dead bodies,” she said.
Yang Si swallowed a bit. “Who came up with something so cruel?”
Dead bodies were highly inflammable because of the fat underneath the skin. Once they caught fire, they were pretty hard to put out.
As the offensive party, Prince Changshou’s forces must have suffered heavier casualties than the defending army. That meant more dead bodies.
Was Prince Changshou crazy? He’d used the bodies of his own men to fuel his attacking strategy and burned his way through Jiamen Pass?
“How would I know?” Jiang Pengji’s smile remained. “Jingrong used to work for Prince Changshou. Does that bring to ming who might have come up with the idea?”
In the past, Yang Si probably would have minded that Jiang Pengji mentioning his not-so-glorious past on purpose.
Now he didn’t even care. That’s just who his lord was.
Yang Si dug into his memory for a while and said, “No one specifically.”
When he’d worked for Prince Changshou, he’d been the most crafty one of them all.
“It might be someone who came after he left,” Feng Zhen said.
Jiang Pengji thought about it for a while and smiled. “Considering the timing, the man is perhaps not one of Prince Changshou’s own. The way I see it, whoever proposed this cruel plan had something to do with the Mengs. It might even be Meng Zhan himself. After all, he is known for his cruelty.”
Huang Song was lost. “What does it have to do with the Mengs?”
Jiang Pengji smiled but didn’t say anything.
Cheng Jing then said, “We can simply take a look at the battles between Prince Changshou and Chenzhou. Before the Mengs got involved, Prince Changshou was heading downhill. They were even considering retreating. But after they got help from the Mengs, Prince Changshou’s power was boosted which quickly turned the tables. All his strategies got way better. Apparently, he had someone good helping him. So it’s very likely it was the same person who came up with the plan to take Jiamen Pass.”
Huang Song finally understood and nodded.
Picturing how their opponents might have used dead bodies to burn their way through Jiamen Pass, he felt a cold shiver run down the spine and goosebumps emerge all over his body.
“If that’s true… what a cruel monster!”
Jiang Pengji’s tone was flat as she said, “On the battlefield, there isn’t a good guy or a bad guy. Only the winner and the loser. All strategies are allowed. Burning your friends’ corpses is nothing. Winning the war is the best way to validate their sacrificed souls. In human history, cases of feeding on human flesh under desperate circumstances were more common than you’d ever imagine.”