Chapter 659: Battle Report

Chapter 659: Chapter 659: Battle Report

The army rations are actually quite decent. Although the taste might fall far short of what you’d get in a tavern, there’s never any shortage of meat or vegetables, and there’s always enough to fill you up.

The rest is well enough, but after all this time in the army, Shen Hao still couldn’t get used to the soup noodles here. The soupy, watery texture was strange—certainly sufficient to fill his belly, but if he had a choice, he would never eat the soup noodles.

Three flatbreads and a big basin of pork leg boiled in saltwater. The flatbreads were rather dry—a test of one’s teeth—and the hind leg meat was chopped into fist-sized chunks, skewered on a fork and eaten by hand. Then, with a large pot of tea, that was what qualified as a feast for Inspector Chief Officer Shen Hao.

Of course, Shen Hao had something to eat, but the Zhang Ye and Li Jiang sitting opposite him had nothing; they simply stood at attention as regulations demanded, snagging what brief chances they had to report to Shen Hao about any major events that had occurred during his ten days in seclusion.

That’s right, serious events had happened.

On the twentieth of December, the troops under Cheng Jinhou’s command fought an open field engagement with a mixed main force of several Barbarian tribes thirty li east of the newly built "Before the Door" Military Camp. The battle raged from morning until afternoon, and after both sides left over a thousand bodies behind, they each withdrew. But that night, the Barbarians launched a sudden attack—even the "Stone Gate" Military Camp, closest to "Before the Door," was simultaneously besieged by a large Barbarian main force.

The fighting lasted a full three days, ending only when twenty thousand reinforcements from Jianchuan arrived to break the siege of Stone Gate.

Then the newly arrived reinforcements pressed forward again, gearing up to break the bitter offensive and defensive struggle at "Before the Door." Yet, between Stone Gate and Before the Door, forty li apart, the column was ambushed—of twenty thousand soldiers, over six thousand were lost before they retreated to Stone Gate again.

And the troubles in Before the Door continued for two more days until forces from the Jianchuan Central Military Camp advanced, forcing the Barbarians to split their defense and, due to their inadequate manpower, finally broke the encirclement of Before the Door.

On December twenty-fifth, the Central and Lower Military Camps at Jianchuan both mobilized for a massive counteroffensive, pushing the front lines forward fifty li and forty li respectively. But due to Barbarian cavalry’s harassment and supply entanglements, they didn’t occupy the camps—instead, after fighting a battle outside the Barbarian Military Camp, they chose to withdraw.

"So, does this mean the counteroffensive has begun?"

"Yes, sir. At both White Head Gorge and Hu Zhu Yuan, we have for the first time launched proactive attacks against the Barbarians. The intensity, however, is lower than at Jianchuan."

Having gnawed through a piece of bone, Shen Hao tossed it aside, took a hefty sip of tea, and asked, "What about the Barbarians? How did they respond?"

"Over at Jianchuan, the fighting’s been neck-and-neck. According to reports from the Inspectors at Stone Gate and Before the Door, the Barbarians are fighting with wild ferocity. For every one of ours that dies, they’re willing to throw three or four more at us. Corpses are strewn all over the earth and go uncollected; it’s like they’ve all gone mad."

"Still the same tribes as before?" Shen Hao was so used to talking about dead men and scattered corpses over meals that it barely registered anymore.

"Yes. Mainly the Red-eyed Wolf Race, Tri-Eyed Wolf Race, Long-toothed Elephant Race, Snake Race, and some Pig and Rat Races."

The Wolf and Rat Races make up a huge proportion of the Barbarian tribes—by far the largest in number. Hardy, prolific, they like to live in big groups. Even so, the Wolf and Rat Races are themselves divided into lots of subgroups, like the Tri-Eyed and Red-eyed, which are just two of several wolf varieties. In addition, there are clan divisions—a tribe may have members belonging to several or even a dozen clans.

The Red-eyed Wolf Race that once raised the Frost Moon Banner at Sangbi Hill is from the Frost Moon Clan, the strongest among all wolf clans. According to case records at the Xuanqing Guard, the Frost Moon Clan has produced two Barbarian Kings in the past. This is now their third attempt to set up a royal court and claim the throne.

Even so, the wolf tribes aren’t limited to just the Tri-Eyed and Red-eyed, nor to only Frost Moon. Nor are wolf tribes the only dominant force among the Barbarians.

So, with the fighting this fierce and the Jingjiu Dynasty now entering a nationwide austerity in preparation for a potentially lengthy war, Shen Hao was very curious—just what is going on inside the Barbarians?

They had captured plenty of prisoners, and there were experts at interrogation in the ranks. Unfortunately, they hadn’t managed to capture anyone of high enough rank to be worth much. Ordinary soldiers know little. What was clear was that the Barbarians had not yet managed to "quickly unify, then establish a royal court" as anticipated. Instead, they were still bickering among themselves.

"How about at Hu Zhu Yuan? Any sign of the Red-eyed Wolf Race or Long-toothed Elephant Race?"

"None. It’s much as before: The Red-eyed Wolf Race is mostly at White Head Gorge and Jianchuan, while at Hu Zhu Yuan it’s mainly the Gray-skinned Monkey Race and the Bear Race."

"Looks like their internal divisions might be even sharper than ours."

"Yes, sir. For the moment, Marshal Zuo’s strategy seems to focus principally on Jianchuan and White Head Gorge. The fighting at Hu Zhu Yuan is the least intense. According to the Inspector there, our soldier casualties at Hu Zhu Yuan are still under four thousand in total."

Just by sitting in on war council meetings, the benefit was already obvious: these days, Shen Hao had access to all military strategies from every army via the Inspectors. Naturally, all this information was top secret; even within the Inspectors, apart from the handler, no more than four people ever saw the whole picture for any given message.

"So Marshal Zuo is deliberately applying pressure to the Frost Moon Clan while keeping a tacit understanding with the Red Earth Clan?"

Frost Moon refers to the group led by the Red-eyed Wolf Race; those fighting on behalf of the Frost Moon Clan at Jianchuan and White Head Gorge. The Bear and Monkey Races at Hu Zhu Yuan belong to another large clan group, the Red Earth Clan. The Red Earth Clan is led by the Bear Race, with the Monkey Race dependent beneath them. Those two clans have never gotten along: right now, it’s the Red Earth Clan resisting the Frost Moon Clan’s attempt to establish a royal court.

"I believe, sir, it’s not merely tacit understanding—they’re actively preserving Red Earth’s strength." Li Jiang understood military affairs, exceedingly so; to his eye, the situation at Hu Zhu Yuan was far more interesting than it looked.

"Oh? You mean Marshal Zuo is maneuvering for something beyond the battlefield?"

"Yes, sir. By Barbarian tradition, and by what we’ve heard from prisoners, the one with the biggest fist rules. The Frost Moon Clan is the strongest, Red Earth second. But Frost Moon can’t overpower Red Earth completely, which is why the establishment of the royal court keeps getting delayed. If Frost Moon is worn down but Red Earth remains nearly unscathed, the power balance could reverse—in which case, there’ll be a real show to watch."

Shen Hao noticed the sinister grin on Li Jiang’s face, and couldn’t help but smile himself. It was the kind of expression he often saw on his subordinates’ faces back in Fengri City—apparently, he liked smiling this way too.

What could be more amusing than watching your enemy tear themselves apart from within and even turn on each other?

"Excellent. These reports must be kept strictly confidential. Also, about that directive for you to document all strategic errors and omissions by the armies and the performance of the Military Supervisors—has the compilation begun?"