Chapter 145: Playing Tai Chi, Promotion, and Suppressing Bandits

“Heh, that Yu Dingyuan is still quite inexperienced; politically, he’s a bit naive,” Xu Wenshan remarked after hearing Pang Xing’s report. “The military pay is handled jointly by the heir and the Marquis Yun. If he dares to cross them, they won’t hesitate to ruin him utterly.”

Wiping the sweat from his brow, Pang Xing said, “General Yu has invited us to a banquet in the city tonight to discuss the specifics of a peace negotiation.”

Xu Wenshan nodded. “War preparations are underway.”

Pang Xing trembled slightly. “But why—”

Xu Wenshan smiled. “Who ever negotiates peace without fighting first? Yu Dingyuan probably intends to lure me into their grasp and eliminate me. If they’re not fighting and instead want peace talks, it means their military strength is severely lacking. That’s precisely when we should strike. So, regardless of what happens, a battle is inevitable.”

“Then should we still go?” Pang Xing asked.

“We will, but not into the city. Tell them we only accept negotiations outside the city walls and will never set foot inside.”

...

The Xu Wenshan of today was a different man from the one a few days prior. He now had full confidence in engaging in direct conflict with the Sha County garrison. Not only had he firmly established a foothold in the rural areas, but he had also enlisted over a hundred local recruits. Although these new soldiers were not as seasoned as the veterans, when integrated into the current units, they demonstrated strength comparable to regular troops.

He commanded six squads totaling over 120 men. Each squad was led by a veteran sergeant, with an assistant squad leader responsible for the soldiers’ ideological education. The original squad leaders, Li Dazhuang and Lei Laohu, had been promoted to platoon leaders.

On the day of their promotion, Xu Wenshan gathered all the soldiers at the threshing ground and publicly announced their appointments, which greatly honored the two men.

...

“If we return, what do you think Wu Yi’s expression will be?” Lei Laohu grinned at Li Dazhuang.

“I guess he’ll be quite resentful,” Li Dazhuang replied. Before he could finish, a voice from behind interrupted. Xu Wenshan approached and said, “Your promotions were urgent, so there’s still a long way to go before you can truly excel as platoon leaders.”

The two gave a somewhat awkward salute—another gesture taught by Xu Wenshan. He then gestured for them to relax and said, “I originally planned for each squad to have ten men and each platoon to have three squads, but we lack capable officers. I’m counting on the three of you to hold down the platoon and encourage the junior non-commissioned officers to think about military matters more deeply.” He handed them a book. “This Infantry Manual is the result of my recent studies. Take it back, study it well. When we return to Luhe, there will be exams. Fail, and the platoon leader position will be revoked.”

The two took the manual, bewildered, as Xu Wenshan walked away. Lei Laohu said, “Does the commander forget that we can’t even read?”

Li Dazhuang flipped through a few pages. “I’ve been attending night school recently. I can recognize some characters now. The words here are fairly simple, and there are phonetic guides for the tougher ones. I don’t think learning this book will be too hard.”

Lei Laohu stared in astonishment. “You actually went to class?”

At present, Lei Laohu’s biggest challenge was to comprehend the Infantry Manual. Soon, however, they faced an even graver problem.

After Yu Dingyuan’s proposal to invite Xu Wenshan into the city for peace talks was cleverly declined, with Xu insisting negotiations be held outside the city, Yu had shown remarkable patience, insisting that entering the city was necessary to demonstrate their hospitality. Xu, however, claimed that entering the city would compromise their safety. The back-and-forth nearly exhausted Pang Xing running between the two sides.

In truth, while the two sides played this diplomatic game, both were preparing rigorously for war. Yu Dingyuan was desperately mobilizing his forces, while Xu Wenshan exploited his financial advantages to expand and corrupt local troops.

As Xu and Yu exchanged conditions and the peace talks date remained uncertain, the Eagle Legion from the frontlines finally dispatched an advance unit, shattering the tacit understanding between the local garrison and Xu’s forces.

This advance force consisted of 1,200 battle-hardened soldiers, their weathered faces and scars testifying to their experience. Their arrival made life unbearable for the local garrison.

...

The commanding officer of this unit held a rank so high it intimidated all but Yu Dingyuan; all other military leaders in Sha County were subordinate to him. Despite the long journey and scant supplies, he had strict orders to complete the mission swiftly, pressing the local forces to cooperate in suppressing bandits. Yu Dingyuan was reluctant to relinquish the town’s troops, so instead, they conscripted the local garrison to act as auxiliaries—guides, frontliners, and support.

However, these local militia commanders had long been corrupted by Xu Wenshan. Before the frontline troops arrived, they coexisted peacefully with Xu, who never disturbed their recruitment or activities. Now, forced into action by the high command’s orders, they feared offending Xu by betraying him.

Their superiors were untouchable, but the militia leaders themselves were not to be trifled with. Fortunately, these commanders were shrewd survivors with their own tactics.

During the joint anti-bandit operations, before setting out each day, the frontline troops’ planned search areas were already relayed to Xu’s Luhe Guard. They played a game of hide-and-seek: if the enemy searched east, they slipped west; if north, they fled south. When the enemy spread out, they concentrated their forces to strike at weak points with ambushes. This tactic brought the frontline troops endless frustration. Within days, their ranks dwindled from 1,200 to just over a thousand.

The frontline commander finally realized the problem. One day, he deliberately fed false information to the militia leaders. Early the next morning, they searched in the opposite direction and unexpectedly clashed head-on with Xu Wenshan’s forces.

It was the first direct encounter in days of searching, and the commander was almost moved to tears.

But what happened next made him truly weep: the militia soldiers, upon seeing the mere hundred or so Luhe Guardsmen, didn’t hesitate—they dropped to the ground, heads covered.

In stunned silence for a second or two, the frontline troops then executed a spectacular about-face—and immediately fled.

“Pursue them! Don’t let them escape!” the frontline commander shouted desperately, throwing himself into the chase.