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Chapter 200 - The Overbearing General’s Pretty Military Counselor (XIX)

Pa Sha is a dark-faced man with a light, expressionless face.

He raised a hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead, holding a page of the letter in one hand and resting the other against the parchment map, searching for a location.

In front of the map stands a man of Chinese appearance, a standard middle-aged man in his thirties or forties whose face would not be familiar even if he had met him a few times. His mouth is wide and he is grasping his sheepskin hat in one hand, his mouth is wide and he cannot see a smile, his neck is leaning forward and he is rubbing the fur on the rim of his hat against the constant stream of sweat on his chin.

Pa Sha looked at it for a moment before saying coldly, “Go down and collect your reward.”

Only then did the corners of the man’s lips curl up in a flattering manner, and he bowed twice with a smile, “Thank you, Master, thank you, Master.”

He bent over, shrimp-like, and backed away.

Pa Sha grunted when they left.

His lieutenant followed him, his expression obscure: ” My Lord Pa Sha, do you still want to believe this Chu’s words?”

Pa Sha sulks, but looks as if he acquiesces.

”Why do you still believe him?” Pa Sha’s lieutenant, Ai Sha’s nephew, was furious at his uncle’s death, “He was responsible for Ai Sha’s violent death, and we found the hemlock poison in the fire paint. His letter is clearly intended to harm Lord Ai Sha!”

Pa Sha was incoherent: “He has sent many useful messages, and is a camel’s thorn in the side of the North’s army that we cannot afford to abandon.”

The adjutant was uneven: “The other day Ding Yuan was defeated and lost thousands of elite soldiers, wasn’t he the one who asked us to attack?”

Pa Sha, slightly annoyed, raised his voice slightly: “But the message he gave was correct! We attacked Dingyuan three times and Wen Feiru did not fight!”

The adjutant general stopped talking, but by the look on his face he didn’t look half as if he had been convinced.

He asked, “Does the General think that the Northern Government army is really going to attack Fusui?”

Fusui, a city captured by the southern border in the previous year’s Great War, is, like Pei Cheng, on the border of Zhen Nan Guan, and is strongly fortified and difficult to defend.

Because of Fusui’s not-so-advantageous location and the fact that it was a hard nut to crack, the northern army faced this bastion of steel for a year in order to rest and recuperate.

Pa Sha asked, “What makes you think that the northern army will not take the city?”

The adjutant general said, “It’s not that I don’t believe your judgment, it’s that I don’t believe the words of that surname Chu. The northern government army has not moved for a year, so why should they attack Fusui now?”

Pa Sha asked rhetorically, “Do you know about the Thirteenth Prince’s visit to the border on behalf of that old dog from the Middle Kingdom?”

The adjutant was stunned.

Pa Sha looked down at the sheepskin map: “The dogs of the Central Plains are very happy with their success, and Shi Jinghong will be no exception, so they will have to find a good battle to show the emperor. The victory at Pei is at hand, so we must take advantage of the high morale to win another victory. Fusui is the best choice.”

Pa Sha pointed to Fusui on the map: “…… Fusui is not a big city, but in terms of its terrain it is easy to defend and difficult to attack, they do not need to attack strongly, they only need to surround the city, three thousand troops are sufficient. The most that can be mobilised in a day or two around Fusui is only three thousand northern troops.”

The deputy general: “There are two thousand soldiers in the city. With the danger of the land, we can always hold out until reinforcements arrive, right?”

Pa Sha : “Are you stupid? Do the math, Fusui is located at the edge of Zhennan Pass, a small city, the letter post is released once every five days to show that it is safe, if the Chinese dogs only siege the city, not attack the city, do you want the soldiers to give up the city danger, with 2,000 soldiers and horses to fight against 3,000 enemies?”

The adjutant was still not convinced: “Although Fusui does not have a beacon, it does have a warning post, and if it does not report peace for five days, there will be spies from the nearby army to check the situation. Moreover, I remember clearly that, based on the date, General Wu Yichun’s army had only recently brought new grain to Fusui, so why should Fusui be afraid of a five-day siege?”

Pa Sha asked again, “…… Then do you remember that the whole city of Fusui was supplied with drinking water only by the Fusui River?”

The adjutant was speechless.

”The Fusui River is but a tributary, and now that spring has not long arrived, the volume of water is not great. If the Northern Government Army designs to cut off the flow of water, and the water source within Fusui City is cut off, how long can it be sustained by just a few wells and drains?”

The adjutant general was relieved to realise the seriousness of the situation: “What do you think we should do, General? Should we report this to General Tie Muer?”

Pa Sha waved a hand, “Ai Sha’s death and my going back to the city without permission to deal with his affairs has made Tie Muer unhappy with me. Besides, after all the service I have given him over the years, it is time to give some of our own people the benefit of the doubt.”

”But we can’t transfer troops without a warrant from General Tie Muer ……”

”Didn’t you just say that?” Pa Sha’s green eyes flickered to reveal a bit of wolf-like cunning, ” Wu Yichun’s army of grain carriers had just left.”

The deputy general frowned: “General Wu …… has 5,000 grain carriers; but in terms of combat power, our battalion’s generals can match one against two.”

”And what about the two thousand elite troops besieged in Fusui?” Pa Sha put down the letter and pressed his hands on the edge of the map, “The northern army is making a secret run this time, to catch them off guard, they wouldn’t really move a large army to attack a small city, and now that their tactics are known to us, the secret is a joke.”

He exhaled, “Use the best horses and send a message to General Wu. Tell him that he no longer has to spend his days with provisions and that his chance to make a mark has come. With Fusui’s two thousand troops as the main fighting force, they don’t have to work too hard, they just need to supplement them and attack from the inside and outside, it will be a great achievement.”

”The most important thing is ……” he continued, “that the thirteenth prince is likely to come to supervise the battle, after all, this battle is fought for him to see. If he can capture that son of a bitch, whether alive or dead, then he will have one foot on the Green Cloud Stairs.”

The adjutant general asked an extra question, “Given the time the letter was sent, the northern government army should have just marched off. Then why not send the letter directly to Fusui to avoid ……”

Pa Sha’s green eyes slant and a cold smile curls the corners of his mouth.

When the lieutenant figured it out, he immediately said, “Then I will go and write a letter to General Wu, asking him to order his troops and be prepared to go to Fusui’s aid when he runs out of ammunition.”

Pa Sha nodded slightly, pleased with his enlightenment: “Get on with it.”

When he reached the front of the tent, the lieutenant hesitated and turned back: “General, after all this, I still don’t know one thing. …… Why do you trust a Chinese man so much?”

Pa Sha did not say anything, but waved his hand and told him to get out.

The adjutant received his military orders and retired in silence.

Pa Sha smoothes the corners of the sheepskin map and remembers the piece of paper Ai Sha held so dearly in front of her two years ago.

It was a trace of a jade pendant on a topiary.

The seal is bright red and distinctive, with the eagle mark, which can only be used by kings of the southern border.

He exclaimed, “Do you know where this came from? …… Do you remember Chu Ziling? The man from the Middle Kingdom who always delivered messages for us? According to him, this object was a memento left to his birth mother by his birth father.”

Pa Sha, who understood Ai Sha’s meaning at the time, was slightly shocked but not quite convinced: “How do you know it’s not an imitation?”

Ai Sha said, “This man has been writing to us for three years, and he is indeed from Shi Jinghong’s government, and he has indeed given us many messages.”

Pa Sha disdained, “Even if he is indeed the King’s legacy, what can a bastard do?”

To this day, Pa Sha still remembers Ai Sha’s bright eyes: “A bastard child, too, can be our green ladder.”

The words “Green Cloud Ladder” echoed in Pa Sha’s mind.

At the time, he teased Ai Sha for trusting Chu Ziling too much, but over the years, he has come to see him as a good ladder.

If you think about it, isn’t that what Chu Ziling was like?

Since we are using each other, let’s talk in terms of benefits.

As Ai Sha once said, Chu Ziling had helped them so much, so why would he poison Ai Sha for no reason and cut off the power he had cultivated for nearly a decade?

It makes no sense.

The letter could have been replaced, perhaps by a concubine or slave who hated Ai Sha.

In the worst case scenario, the Shi family discovered that someone was sending a message out, intercepted the pigeon, and used his hand to turn the tables on the recipient, without finding out who the sender was.

Chu Ziling was a meticulous man, with a beautiful handwriting in his right hand, but with his left hand he could imitate Shi Tingyun’s dashing handwriting, and he never showed his left hand to anyone. The young lord’s handwriting was heard to be one of the best in Wangcheng and was often imitated by others.

Pa Sha rolls the sheepskin map slowly into place, a stone cold glint in his green eyes.

…… If Chu Ziling’s intentions and identity had been discovered by Shi Tingyun, it would have been a bad move to send his own troops to their deaths.

He would not move, and even if he had to die, it would be Wu Yichun who would go.

Let’s see how things develop at the end of the day.

Meanwhile, in a small town 50 miles away from Fusui.

Chi Xiaochi has arrived here first to set up camp.

It had taken half a day to get here, and with so much to arrange on arrival, Chi Xiaochi was now too sleepy to return to his room, so he fell asleep with his head propped up in the main room of a temporary mansion that had been created to serve as a command post.

Chu Ziling enters the room to serve tea and sees Li Yeshu sitting in the lower seat of the Duke, frowning, holding a map and pondering over a sand table.

Chu Ziling put his tea down and asked, “What are you looking at?”

Li Yeshu shushed him to make sure he hadn’t woken the dozing male before saying, “Keep your voice down, he’s tired.”

Chu Ziling The corners of his mouth are slightly curled.

What is this toil in a military camp?

He leans over to look at the map in Li Yeshu’s hand.

Li Yeshu, however, put the map away and said solemnly, “No. It was given to me by the Duke.”

Chu Ziling looked at him unexpectedly, “My lord has allowed me to take part in military affairs, have you forgotten?”

Li Yeshu still covered his eyes, “My lord said that this was a confidential matter, and that I was only allowed to understand it, and that I was not allowed to talk about it with outsiders, nor was I told to ask them.”

Chu Ziling teased him, “Isn’t that the map of Fusui you’re looking at? The plan was devised by the Duke, and I assisted him, so what is confidential to me? Besides, I am not an outsider.”

Li Yeshu didn’t take him for granted, and walked around to the other side of the sandbox, covering the map protectively, and said seriously, “I won’t show it to you, no matter what you say. Nor have I ever before asked about the war strategy the Duke gave you.”

Chu Ziling froze for a long time, then looked back with good humour and amusement.

…… Does he really take himself seriously?

Chi Xiaochi wakes up, rubs his eyes and drinks the hot tea that Chu Ziling has just served.

Chu Ziling laughed at the side, “My lord, good news, the warehouse in the city where the messenger posts are kept has been infiltrated by the dead soldiers, and the posts have been doused with water beforehand, making them all dumb.”

Chi Xiaochi nodded.

Li Yeshu but said, “But …… my lord, I think this attack on Fusui is slightly inappropriate ……”

Chi Xiaochi put down his teapot and asked him patiently, “How is it wrong?”

Li Yeshu was not very confident, glanced at Chu Ziling and stammered, “Can we …… really break the city in five days? If the soldiers in the city, due to the lack of water, die in a fishnet and rush out of the city to fight to the death ……”

Chi Xiaochi does not say anything, but smiles and turns to Chu Ziling.

Chu Ziling also found it amusing: “Shu, the Northern Army is not a wine bag, and the Southerners are only carrying a skull on their shoulders, so why do you have to grow others’ ambition? Two thousand against three thousand, there is no reason why we can’t fight?”

Li Yeshu was a little anxious and stammered a little, holding up the map and gesturing, “My lord, I’m afraid someone has set up a pocket and is waiting for us to get into it.”

Chu Ziling’s heart leapt, and he opened his mouth to retort: “The movement of troops is a confidential matter, and as long as there is no inside man, the battle is a sure thing. Besides, if everyone was as afraid as you are, the battle would be impossible.”

Li Yeshu was inexperienced, and when he saw that the Prince did not refute Chu Ziling’s words, he had to keep his mouth shut.

”Don’t think so much about it.” Chi Xiaochi got up, ” A Ling, go back and rest, and come with me to battle tonight.”

Chu Ziling’s eyes lit up and he turned to look at a somewhat downcast Li Yeshu, amused by his own hidden worries over the past few days.

He was just a child who had to rack his brain even to think of a battle strategy. When it came to the Duke’s trust in him, how could he compare to himself?

Chi Xiaochi went out the door and around to the backyard, where he took cool water and slapped his face to wake up.

Lou Ying appeared from behind him, rocking his wheelchair, and laughed, “Planning to do it?”

”…… Chu Ziling wants to be a duck and he wants a pagoda.” Chi Xiaochi wiped his face with the towel he handed him, revealing a pair of smiling eyes, “…… Then I’ll tattoo a semi-permanent pagoda on his face for him.”