Chapter 89: The Bloody Battle at Changping Pass, Part 2

After Changping Pass, gloom hung over the Qin army’s camp.

The Qin commander, Wei Changtian, sat on the general’s seat with a dark, sullen face. Beside him sat Ji Tuo, the great general of Chen, an old soldier of the Chen royal house who wore the same bitter expression.

Because Zhang Yunliang had drawn back, the Qin men had vented all their anger over the retreat upon this Chen commander. And as the Wei army pressed in step by step, the fury of the Qin generals only rose higher.

“What can you Chen people ever accomplish?” one Qin general demanded, stepping forward.

The Chen generals opposite lowered their heads in shame.

Since the war began, apart from the defense of Xianghe County, where the Chen army had taken the lead in battle and failed to hold the city, every major engagement had been fought by Qin.

Faced with such accusations, the Chen officers had nothing to say.

“We told you to pin down the Qin army’s attention. And what happened? Ten thousand cavalry were scared off by two thousand foot soldiers. Ridiculous.” Another Qin general lashed out.

This was open name-calling, and since Zhang Yunliang himself was present, he could only keep silent.

Yet he would not regret his decision. The Qin people had never meant well by them in the first place; they had only wanted to use them as cannon fodder.

Besides, even if they had reached their intended target on time, it likely would have made little difference. Who could have guessed that the men of Wei would mobilize as many as one hundred and sixty to one hundred seventy thousand troops?

“Ji Tuo, with the Wei army surrounding us outside and matters come to this, what do you still have to say?” A Qin general even pointed straight at Ji Tuo’s nose and cursed him.

Ji Tuo, already over sixty, could scarcely endure such humiliation. His face turned crimson at once.

Just as he was about to slam the table and rise, Wei Changtian finally spoke from beside him.

“Ying Hui, enough!”

At that rebuke, Ying Hui at last withdrew his arrogant look.

“General Ji is a man of high virtue and senior standing. How dare you speak so recklessly?” Wei Changtian said, his tone sharpening.

With the enemy at the gate, this was no time for internal strife. The men of Chen did need to be disciplined, but too much was as bad as too little.

Seeing that Ying Hui still looked unwilling, Wei Changtian said coldly, “Apologize to the old general at once.”

Relying on his status as a member of the royal clan, Ying Hui had repeatedly disregarded military orders, and Wei Changtian had long been displeased with him.

Qin’s retreat after retreat had not been without your share of credit, Wei Changtian thought darkly.

“My apologies.” Ying Hui gave a perfunctory salute, his manners light and dismissive, and that was the extent of his apology to Ji Tuo.

So, under Wei Changtian’s stern suppression, the two groups that shared the same camp but not the same heart were forced to draw together again.

“For now, let us discuss how to deal with the Wei army outside the pass,” Wei Changtian said, his face cold.

The pressure on him was immense, both from the ruler and from his own family.

That child Wei Xing was probably not coming back. Wei Changtian pressed a hand to his forehead and sighed inwardly.

No one answered his proposal, because aside from holding fast, there was no other course.

The Wei host had gathered in overwhelming force. Even when Qin was at the height of its strength, the odds of defeating them in a direct clash were slim.

But holding fast meant exactly that: holding fast to death. Everyone present knew the result of a prolonged defense would still be death.

With more than one hundred thousand mouths to feed and mounts to sustain, the combined Qin-Chen grain supply could not last much longer.

Before the absolute might of Wei, all the struggles of Qin and Chen seemed futile.

The generals said nothing, and even the strategists, who were usually the most talkative of all, had sealed their lips tight.

In the heavy silence of the command tent, everyone’s heart was hanging by a thread, afraid of being singled out by Wei Changtian.

Even Ying Hui, usually the most flamboyant of them all, had turned his face aside.

“Weren’t you all so lively just now? Why have you all gone mute now?” Wei Changtian said coldly.

Compared with Wei, Qin’s greatest weakness was that the commanders of each corps wielded too much power, making it difficult for orders from the central command to be carried out with full unity.

That was why they had been unable to stand against the Wei army and had been forced into repeated retreat.

And it was not only others. Even the members of the Ying clan themselves were leading the charge in such behavior.

Take Ying Hui, for example: in the tent, he had dared to point at the grand commander’s nose and curse, though the one he had cursed was not Wei Changtian himself.

“Changping Pass is a natural fortress. For the Wei army to take it is as hard as reaching the heavens,” someone finally said after a long pause.

It was still nonsense, but at least it broke the oppressive silence.

A natural fortress.

At those words, Wei Changtian smiled bitterly. A natural fortress still needed men to defend it, and men to die for it.

If Qin and Wei truly smashed into each other here, how many would die? How many of them would be men of Qin?

Such a war of attrition was more than Wei Changtian could bear. Even if he barely managed to hold Changping Pass, he would have no way to answer to the ruler of Qin when he returned.

At that moment, he could not help but curse the Chen army in his heart as well. If they had not been so incompetent, how could things have come to this?

“Who is on guard at the pass today?” Wei Changtian asked.

“Reporting to the general, my men are currently stationed atop Changping Pass,” a Qin general stepped forward and said.

Wei Changtian nodded, then asked, “Gu Jian, how many soldiers does your unit have now?”

Gu Jian thought for a moment before answering slowly, “Reporting to the general, my unit originally had eleven thousand men. At present, nine thousand remain fit for battle.”

His words pained the generals present. Their own troops had also suffered losses in this great battle.

“Just over nine thousand... By your judgment, do you still need reinforcements from the central command?” Wei Changtian asked again.

Gu Jian shook his head and said, “Changping Pass is high and steep, short and narrow. It cannot hold many men on top. My unit alone is already too crowded.”

Wei Changtian considered it and found that to be true.

Changping Pass was less than two hundred meters long, with sheer mountain ridges on both sides. Indeed, it could not accommodate many men.

“Very well. Your unit will hold it for the next two days. After that, you will rotate with Ying Hui,” Wei Changtian said gravely.

“Yes,” Gu Jian replied.

Meanwhile, the Chen generals sat quietly to one side as if nothing were amiss, calmly watching the Qin army make its arrangements.

Wei Changtian naturally disliked them for it, but there was nothing he could do. If he were to send these people onto the battlefield, Changping Pass would likely fall on the very first day.

“General Ji, the logistics and provisions of our army will depend entirely on you,” Wei Changtian said, turning to Ji Tuo beside him.

“I shall not fail this charge,” Ji Tuo said, rising to his feet with ringing force.

This was their own land, yet others had to come and protect it for them. If they could not even manage the supply lines properly, then Chen truly deserved to perish.

“Next, let us discuss further what to do if the Wei army...” Wei Changtian had barely finished speaking when an urgent report suddenly rang out from outside the tent.

The generals inside all tensed at once, praying desperately that nothing ill had happened.

“Report...”

A scout burst into the great tent and, under the gaze of all the generals, shouted, “General, the Wei army has begun its assault!”

The Wei army was attacking!

At this news, the generals present, especially Wei Changtian and Gu Jian, could no longer sit still.

“General, I must return to my camp,” Gu Jian said, bowing quickly, his voice tight with urgency.

“Go, go at once!” Wei Changtian immediately agreed. Gu Jian was the chief commander of the defending troops and had to take his place at once.

After Gu Jian left, Wei Changtian turned again to the others. “All of you, return to your respective camps at once and await orders from the central command.”

“Yes!”

Only then did the various commanders depart.

Outside Changping Pass, banners crowded the horizon.

A great battle was about to begin.