Chapter 118: Night Raid On Liling
In the night, an army of fifteen thousand marched through the towering mountains and steep ridges. This was the Fifth Army of the Yuzhang Army, the army led by Taishi Ci.
The army consisted of thirteen thousand infantry and two thousand cavalry, plus a logistics team of ten thousand mules. Besides the soldiers’ dry rations, most were refined fodder and black beans for the warhorses.
The army arrived at Niuchuan Town at night, rested briefly and resupplied, then set off again. At the fourth watch, they bypassed Yichun County Town without alarming it, heading directly west along the official road.
This time, the ten thousand mules that had arrived early at Niuchuan Town, carrying logistics supply materials, followed behind the army and also bypassed Yichun County Town at night.
War is like this: once it begins, the demand for logistics supplies is staggering, so war is a test of national strength.
The supplies carried by these twenty thousand mules were merely what was needed to attack Liling County. Once Liling County was taken, the Yuzhang Army would have a foothold in Changsha Commandery, and various logistics supplies would then continuously transport grain and supplies from Yichun County to Liling County.
But future transport of grain and supplies would be slightly easier, mostly by water: via the Gan River to the Yuan River to Yichun County, then by mule from Yichun County a hundred li to the upper reaches of the Lu River, then by boat directly to Liling County.
This time there was no water transport to avoid alerting the enemy. Yichun County had enemy scouts who would relay the news to Changsha Commandery, making a sneak attack on Liling impossible.
Attacking Liling County was difficult. Its city walls were tall and sturdy, the moat was twenty zhang wide, the drawbridge was raised high—it was completely an easy-to-defend, hard-to-attack strategic military city. Moreover, the Yuzhang Army could not bring siege weapons.
As early as a few months ago, Gan Ning, Lu Su, Xu Shu, and Taishi Ci had finalized the sneak attack plan.
The only regret was that they had not found the enemy scouts lurking in Yichun County.
To ensure the sneak attack succeeded, they did not alarm Yichun County at all, so all actions passing through Yichun County were done at night.
Thirty li from Liling County, Taishi Ci led the army to halt. He sent Wang Xiaoman to Liling County to make contact.
Wang Xiaoman arrived at Chunlai Inn and found shopkeeper Du Jin. Du Jin immediately understood that the moment of action was approaching. He hurriedly took Wang Xiaoman to the back courtyard.
“Are the brothers all well?”
A month ago, Wang Xiaoman had gradually sent two hundred subordinates to Liling County. They entered the county town in various guises, all going directly to Chunlai Inn in East City, then arranged by Du Jin into various courtyards and mansions rented in advance.
“They are all nearby. This subordinate can summon them all immediately.”
Wang Xiaoman was in no hurry. He asked about some other situations before telling Du Jin to gather the subordinates.
Soon, the two hundred subordinates arrived one after another from the alleys to the neighboring mansion. In the back courtyard, the two hundred soldiers sat on the ground, filling the courtyard.
“At the third watch tonight is our action time. Now everyone eat a good meal, then get a good sleep. Tonight follow me and be full of vigor!”
The two hundred stayed in the inn and the neighboring mansion. The soldiers ate heartily, then went to find places to sleep.
Wang Xiaoman, as commander, was still listening to Du Jin brief him on the night situation. “You’re sure there will be no patrolling soldiers at night?”
“This subordinate can certainly confirm it. We’ve observed for months, and even last night we checked. There are no patrolling soldiers on the city walls, only guards at the four city gates. It’s not wartime, there’s not even any alert—completely normal state.”
“What about curfew?” Wang Xiaoman pressed. “Is there a curfew or patrols?”
“There is a curfew, but no patrols. This is just a small county town. At night, shops close, and there’s not even a soul on the main street—no need for patrols.”
Surprisingly, there were no patrols, making Wang Xiaoman secretly sigh in relief. Liu Xin had a problem with personnel: such tall and sturdy defenses built, yet a mediocre general stationed here.
The commander of Liling County was Yang Ling. He had followed Liu Xin for many years and was deeply trusted by him. Since last summer, he had been ordered to be stationed at Liling County.
At first, Yang Ling was diligent, patrolling and on duty every day meticulously. But over time, he grew lax, especially after learning that Liu Xin had deployed intelligence scouts in Yichun County of Yuzhang Commandery—he breathed a sigh of relief.
Anyway, if there was a situation, the scouts would send word ahead for them to prepare. No need to be so tense normally.
At noon, subordinate general Zhao Kai advised him: “Previously, our lord notified all places in Changsha Commandery to strengthen defenses. We are a western stronghold in Changsha Commandery, right on the front line. Our city defenses are a bit lax now—isn’t it time to raise the defense level?”
Yang Ling waved dismissively, unconcerned. “If they really valued us here, they should reinforce me to five thousand troops. But they neither reinforced me nor ordered me to raise the defense level, which means the lord’s intelligence is that the enemy is attacking by water route, having nothing to do with us.”
“But intelligence isn’t always accurate.”
Zhao Kai wanted to persuade further, but Yang Ling grew unhappy and interrupted: “You speak easily—’raise the level’ at the drop of a hat. Don’t you know that raising the defense level increases expenditures on money, grain, meat, vegetables, and more? If above wants me to raise it, they’ll allocate money and grain. Now with no such order, if I raise it myself, where does the extra expenditure come from?”
Pacing with hands behind his back, Yang Ling added: “Why did General Liu arrange intelligence scouts in Yichun County? To provide early warning. If Gan Ning comes by land route, there will definitely be war preparations in Yichun County ahead of time—allocating grain and fodder, assembling troops. The intelligence scouts in Yichun County will notify us promptly. Then we can raise the defense level. Nothing has happened now, so raising defenses for no reason—what’s that called? Unnecessary worry.”
Yang Ling’s words shut down his subordinate’s suggestion. Zhao Kai didn’t dare advise further, merely saluted silently and withdrew.
At the first watch, the soldiers in the inn opened a secret cellar in the neighboring mansion and brought out two hundred sets of iron armor, spears, battle sabers, and other weapons, plus military crossbows.
The Yuzhang Army had learned from the lesson of seizing Nanchang County: they transported the armor for two hundred men into the city by boat in three batches, hiding it in the mansion’s cellar.
The soldiers donned iron armor, took up weapons, and sat on the ground waiting for the time to come.
Time passed bit by bit. Less than half a shichen remained until the third watch. Everyone exited from the mansion’s front door. This was a long alley, ending at an ordinary north-south street—not the main road, no shops, all residential houses.
Beside the street ran an inner river, parallel to it. The river bridge was on the main street at the inn’s entrance.
But two small boats were moored side by side on the small river—these were specially rented by Du Jin for the soldiers to cross. The two hundred soldiers boarded and crossed the small river. On the other side was a vast open space—the large blank buffer zone typical of a military stronghold. Any arrows or stones shot or thrown into the city from outside would land only in this blank area.
The two hundred soldiers headed straight for the northeast corner. Though wearing heavy iron armor, long-term training made them still very agile in it while running. Soon they reached the water city gate at the northeast corner.
