LF Chapter 25

Chapter 25: Leading Troops Northward

The Mid-Autumn moon was clear and cold, yet tender. Some saw its amorous grace, others its chilling frost.

Jiang Yinghua was both captivated by the joyous reunions and intoxicated revelry, yet also concerned about the border’s clashing swords and halberds, and the inevitable partings that grandeur would bring.

The palace banquet dispersed, and the bustling crowds vanished into the night along the long palace paths. In the blink of an eye, the clamor subsided.

Tai Zhang Palace returned to its desolate silence. The towering halls reflected the bright moonlight, exuding a daunting majesty.

Jiang Yinghua clearly hadn’t touched a drop of alcohol, yet felt a hazy intoxication. Leaning against the white jade balustrade, she gazed alone at the starry sky.

“Hua’er,” Your Majesty emerged from the hall and saw the person gazing blankly at the night sky in the courtyard. “A full moon hangs high every year, why such melancholy?” She stood shoulder to shoulder with her younger sister, her gaze lingering on the still somewhat immature face of the younger sibling.

“Is there something else you wish to instruct, Your Majesty, that you kept me here?” Jiang Yinghua turned her head, gazing at Your Majesty with a questioning look.

“Can’t I keep you if there’s nothing? Isn’t Tai Zhang Palace your home?” Your Majesty feigned annoyance, playfully scolding her.

Jiang Yinghua lowered her gaze indifferently, her long eyelashes fluttering, and remained silent.

“I just received some more news. The movements and numbers of the bandits should be accurate. You’ll return to camp tomorrow, muster the generals, and send out troops?” Your Majesty tentatively inquired.

“As Your Majesty arranges, I will consider carefully before acting,” Jiang Yinghua said, turning to face Your Majesty’s expectant gaze.

“Once you’re on the battlefield, you won’t cry and desert, will you? Huh?” Jiang Jingche reached out and ruffled Jiang Yinghua’s hair, teasing her with a smile.

“If I dare to run, you can just take my head,” Jiang Yinghua pointed to her head, self-deprecatingly laughing.

“You brat, don’t talk nonsense.” Your Majesty poked her forehead with a finger. “Let’s go, let’s go to Mother’s place. She doesn’t know about this yet. You can stay with her in the palace tonight.”

“Okay, good.” Jiang Yinghua followed behind her, carrying a dim palace lantern, walking slowly towards the Empress Dowager’s Palace…

The next day, the morning glow filled the sky. Jiang Yinghua rose early, left the palace, and returned to her manor, preparing to pack her bags and head to the northern camp. On the way back to her manor, she happened to run into Yan Wanzhi.

Perhaps this person had been waiting for her on the official road. Seeing her carriage, they deliberately stepped forward to stop it.

Jiang Yinghua understood at a glance that this person must have something to say. “Scholar Yan, why are you waiting here so early?”

“I received news and expected that you would pass by here on your way back to your manor this morning, so I came to give you something,” Yan Wanzhi said, getting off his horse and holding a cloth bundle with both hands, offering it into Jiang Yinghua’s carriage.

Jiang Yinghua reached out, took it, and opened it. It was actually a set of high-quality gold silk soft armor, a rare and precious item.

Jiang Yinghua turned her head, glanced at Yan Wanzhi, and asked with a somewhat surprised smile, “How did you come by such a valuable item?”

Yan Wanzhi laughed sheepishly, cupping his hands and saying, “A gift from an old friend. I am but a civil official and have no use for it, so I might as well borrow flowers to offer to Buddha. I hope Your Highness won’t find it objectionable.”

“How could I? I appreciate Scholar Yan’s kindness. Thank you. Hurry and enter the palace. You’ll be beaten if you’re late for the morning court,” Jiang Yinghua teased with a smile.

Yan Wanzhi bowed deeply, “I am on duty today and cannot see you off. I wish Your Highness victory in battle, success upon arrival, and a triumphant return.”

“I’ll take your good wishes. Farewell,” Jiang Yinghua smiled sweetly at Yan Wanzhi.

Yan Wanzhi mounted his horse and stared fixedly as the procession drove away, until it disappeared from sight, then whipped his horse and galloped towards the Forbidden City.

Last night, he had the chance to have a drunken reunion with Uncle Mo, whom he had been separated from for many years, and today he still savored the lingering memories. That little Prince Zhao clearly yearned for family affection in her heart, yet today she had to leave home and go far away. He wondered how much sorrow was hidden behind that smile.

Jiang Yinghua arrived at the northern camp near noon.

Qiao An had received news early in the morning and, calculating the time, led a group of generals to welcome her at the gate. Seeing the person riding towards them, they all knelt down to pay their respects.

Jiang Yinghua approached, dismounted, and personally helped the old general up. “What are you doing? Coming here is like returning home to me. You are an elder, no need for such formalities.” Turning her gaze to the group of young generals, she said, “Thank you all for waiting so long. Rise.”

Qiao An clasped his fist, solemnly saying, “Your Highness is now the Emperor-appointed Commander-in-Chief, we should naturally act accordingly. The camp has prepared a farewell banquet. Please, Your Highness, move inside.”

Jiang Yinghua nodded and followed them into the military camp. The soldiers in the camp today were more energetic and alert than usual, standing ready.

Last night, Jiang Yinghua and Your Majesty agreed that the bandits had limited fighting strength, currently less than 20,000 people, and were causing trouble in all directions, not particularly troublesome enemies.

In addition, the state and county also had garrisons to contain them. This group of bandits was perfect for Jiang Yinghua to practice. Therefore, Your Majesty decided to take 25,000 soldiers with Jiang Yinghua to the two troubled states, and also ordered people to inspect the military defenses along the way.

The royal family leading troops on an expedition, mustering generals, selecting soldiers, holding a farewell banquet, and setting off—all necessary procedures were indispensable.

At the farewell banquet, Jiang Yinghua looked at the filled wine bowls and couldn’t help but laugh. She had spoken too soon about abstaining from alcohol. She couldn’t possibly replace a jar of strong liquor with plain water in front of the soldiers, or she wouldn’t need to fight this battle at all.

Indeed, Jiang Yinghua’s abstinence from alcohol only lasted for that moment at the palace banquet.

Just as the soldiers were feasting, Qiao An walked up to Jiang Yinghua and said in a low voice, “Your Highness, may I have a word with you?”

Jiang Yinghua heard this, stepped away from the crowd, and stopped, turning her head to ask, “Uncle, what is it?”

“This old minister submitted a memorial, requesting to accompany Your Highness on this expedition. Don’t worry, I have already arranged everything here. General Pei, who is in charge of guarding the area, is an old subordinate of mine and is reliable,” Qiao An explained, lowering his eyes.

“Uncle, how can you go? I trust your arrangements, but you’ve been injured. How can Hua’er bring you to the battlefield again and explain it to my aunt?” Jiang Yinghua dissuaded him with concern.

“I’ve spent half my life in the military camp, how can I give it up? Your Majesty has approved it, you should agree as well. This old minister will not be a burden to anyone. Soldiers guarding the battlefield is the rule of the military,” Qiao An stubbornly insisted with a full voice.

In fact, Jiang Yinghua hoped that Qiao An would be present. This uncle had once been a great general skilled in military strategy. Moreover, she trusted the person before her.

After pondering for a long time, Jiang Yinghua slowly opened her mouth, “Since Your Majesty has allowed you, Hua’er can’t refuse. Uncle, let’s make a three-chapter agreement. You can come with the army, but don’t charge into battle. How about you be Hua’er’s strategist?”

“Haha, it’s a deal.” The old general’s gray hair fluttered in the wind, and his eyes flashed with a light upon hearing this, instantly lifting his spirits.

The afternoon sky was clear, and the army set off, heading towards the two northern states. As early as ten days ago, grain and provisions had been mobilized along the way in preparation for unforeseen circumstances. Your Majesty had planned ahead, preventing changes around the capital, but now it just happened to serve Jiang Yinghua’s army.

The place where the incident occurred was in the jurisdiction of the Shuofang Military Commissioner.

With this level of disturbance by bandits, the Military Commissioner could have requested permission to send troops to suppress them, but the bandit’s banner was rather arrogant, and Shuofang was a key border fortress in the north. The commissioner’s soldiers were mainly suppressing foreign invasions, so these troublemaking bandits were reported to the court for adjudication.

With soldiers, provisions, and military supplies ready, the more than 20,000 soldiers marched rapidly, and in just five days, they had quietly entered the troubled area in two groups.

Jiang Yinghua did not enter and suppress them with great fanfare, but instead sent out three groups of scouts in advance to gather military intelligence. The army was stationed far away, intending to figure out the enemy’s movements before deciding on a plan to annihilate them.

The military system in these two states was different from other states and counties. The military power under the jurisdiction of the two state officials was mainly to supervise and control the military commissioner’s army, and they were somewhat unable to spare energy in suppressing the bandits.

Jiang Yinghua did not count on the local private soldiers who lacked regular training, and did not even issue military orders to them. In five days, the court’s official documents should have arrived in the state and county, but the two local officials did not come to greet them.

Jiang Yinghua was already dissatisfied with the negligence of these two people, and now that she was here, their indifferent attitude made Jiang Yinghua quite annoyed, and she couldn’t help but feel some vigilance.

At dusk, scouts reported that the bandits had previously captured a county town, but had not been rampant in recent days, their movements were elusive, and their garrison was hidden and varied. After scouting for half a day, they found that the bandits were only causing trouble in remote villages and towns, and had not even clashed with the local government troops.

That night, Jiang Yinghua discussed with Qiao An in the tent: “Uncle, what do you think of this matter? The bandits seem to be prepared. Should we scout again, or send troops to scare them?”

Qiao An stroked his beard, half-Squint his wrinkled eyelids, pondering for a moment and saying, “What does Your Highness want to do?”

“Scout again. Strive for a single, decisive strike,” Jiang Yinghua replied solemnly.

“Haha, great minds think alike. It seems that the people from the state and county will be here soon, why don’t we meet them first?” Qiao An was experienced. He came out this time for fun, but also to protect the person for Your Majesty.

As Qiao An expected, the two important state officials pretended to guard outside the station before dawn the next day, allowing the cold dew to wet their clothes, expressing their guilt and anxiety for arriving late.

They were all cunning foxes who had become Refined. Jiang Yinghua deliberately left them out in the cold for half an hour before accepting the bitter scene.

During the conversation, the two governors reported the bandit’s troop strength and direction that they knew, and Jiang Yinghua listened carefully. She could confirm that they corresponded to the scouts’ reports, and the doubts in her heart were dispelled for the most part.

However, based on the bandit’s growing trend that the two men said, Jiang Yinghua calculated that these people probably had more than 20,000 people. The news from the court was not accurate. To be able to recruit so many people in a short two months, they were probably not just displaced refugees and mountain bandits who had lost their land.

These two governors were not gourd bottles with sealed mouths, they were too good at suppressing matters, but concealing information and delaying opportunities was enough for them to drink a kettle of it.

Jiang Yinghua temporarily left the two in the station. She planned to wait for the scouts’ report and make further decisions after careful consideration.

The scouts’ news entered the camp, and soon after, the state government soldiers rushed here, saying that the rebels had divided into two groups and besieged two subordinate county towns. The two town leaders were unable to resist the surging bandits, and they would break through the gates in a moment.

Hearing this, Jiang Yinghua summoned the governor of the state involved and inquired about the details of the local garrison’s troop strength. She discussed countermeasures with Qiao An using the sand table, and finally decided that the governor and the imperial guards would each lead a group of soldiers, specializing in attacking one county, with a pincer attack to break them apart.

The army advanced, and the morale of the first battle was extremely high. In less than half a day, they surrounded more than a thousand bandits outside the city, which was considered an easy victory.

Although Jiang Yinghua was responding to actual combat for the first time, when she cleared the battlefield and patrolled the city, she always felt a little strange. The bandit’s tactics were not like those of common people who had risen up in revolt. Even if there were mixed mountain bandits among them, their ability to arrange troops was quite outstanding.

If the leader really had this ability, Jiang Yinghua wanted to recruit them, it seemed better than that dog-headed governor.

Moreover, after the defeat, those people did not desperately fight with bloodshot eyes, but honestly laid down their weapons and surrendered. This battle seemed to have ended before it was satisfying.

This was a county town closer to the garrison. The other besieged town was more than fifty miles away, near the mountainous area, with complex terrain.

After taking a city, the casualties of the imperial guards were almost negligible. More than a thousand prisoners of war needed to be dealt with, and the suffering county town residents also needed to be resettled. Qiao An suggested that Jiang Yinghua not rush to advance. It was difficult to travel at night, there might be ambushes, the enemy was in the dark and we were in the light, which was not conducive to action.

Jiang Yinghua rested, intending to wait a few hours and then transfer to the other place at dawn.

The trembling governor led the state government troops. Although they were also fighting, it was unknown whether the soldiers recruited locally were too weak or the governor’s ability was too poor, the Battle was really unbearable to look at.

The next day’s battle was the same, not difficult. It was just hard for the poor county magistrate, who had struggled all night and prepared a coffin. The old and young people of the whole county were holding hoes and hammers, waiting for the battle, all with an expression of Swear to die to defend their homes.

These were just two small victories, easily capturing nearly five thousand enemy troops. Qiao An’s face became a little ugly.

Because of the route, the latter city was not surrounded, but directly faced the enemy, and a large number of rebels retreated and fled. Jiang Yinghua wanted to send troops to pursue, but was stopped by Qiao An.

Based on his many years of experience in the battlefield, these people seemed to be inducing the enemy to go deep, creating illusions, and deceiving the Audiovisual.

Qiao An and Jiang Yinghua had a long secret talk at the station. Jiang Yinghua was quite surprised when she heard Qiao An’s worries.

Indeed, if it was as the governor said, then these bandits should be very careful in using troops. But in just two days, they sent five thousand people to the court. Was the loss too great?

Qiao An led Jiang Yinghua’s thinking: “If Your Highness follows the trail north, where will the army go?”

Jiang Yinghua stared at the sand table and said, “Further north, the east side is a mountain range and dense forest, and the west side is a plain grassland. The bandits should enter the mountain, and we should surround the mountain. The terrain is unfavorable to us.”

“What if they go west? Will Your Highness chase or not?” Qiao An asked differently.

“Go west? How will they hide? Isn’t that suicide? Moreover, the west side directly enters the Hideland of the Shuofang Military Commissioner, which is tantamount to sheep entering… Wait, you, you suspect?” Jiang Yinghua was stunned as she spoke, and looked at Qiao An in disbelief.

The expression in Qiao An’s cloudy eyes was complicated: “I didn’t think there was anything strange about this matter, but I was restless when I came here. These two battles were even more awkward. If the bandits only had this ability, why would the court send troops, they should have been suppressed by the state government.”

Jiang Yinghua frowned slightly, “If this is the case, our troop strength may be difficult to enemy. But now the scouts in all directions have not noticed any abnormalities, and without any evidence, it is not easy to ask for more troops.”

“If we enter the mountain and surround the mountain, the two sides will be deadlocked, and the cost of grain and financial resources will be reduced. If it is really as guessed, once troops are raised, there may be enemies on both sides. Your Highness is now leading troops to defend two cities, and the people take you as the standard. It is impossible to retreat.” Qiao An stared at the sand table, analyzing slowly.

“Then we will temporarily stand still, secretly divide the troop strength to find the most suitable Land, and I will find a way to send a message to Your Majesty, asking people to Listen the Shuofang Military Commissioner’s abnormalities,” Jiang Yinghua said slowly after pondering for a long time.