‘Bang!’

The firework rocket shot straight from the top of the hill into the sky, and exploded into a clump of blood-red flame, illuminating the big earth.

On Xieli’s side, everybody, from top to bottom, raised their head to looked. Just like them, Kou Zhong was just as confused, as he watched the red light disappear and turned into dots of red light sprinkling down and then disappeared without leaving a trace.

On top of the hill, Hou Xibai gesticulated wildly at him. Kou Zhong immediately came to his senses. The fireworks arrow that Hou Xibai released was given by Lei Jiuzhi. It was originally to be used to contact Ma Chang’s army, but last night there was no opportunity to use it. Now Hou Xibai saw the turn of events was not too encouraging, being able to think fast in an emergency, he used it to summon Ma Chang’s three thousand elite troops heading for Wugong.

From the enemy ranks, the bugle horn was sounded.

Kou Zhong was shocked, wondering if this was not trying to be clever and ended up with egg on their faces, provoking Xieli’s side to think that they were launching an attack, and thus they gained the initiative by striking first. It was not until he looked at the enemy ranks that he started to feel relieved.

Sure enough, the enemy cavalry was maneuvering, they fetched their bows and put on the arrows, but they remained spread out everywhere, laying out a defensive troop disposition. He could not help laughing at his own lacking in confidence. The fact was that Xieli toiled his disposition of troops to come, but was stopped here, on top of that, they were afraid of him, Kou Zhong, so that they had become a bird startled by the mere twang of a bow, and were even more afraid that Kou Zhong’s military strength to meet the enemy head-on lying in ambush here was several times higher than his. How could they know that in the dense forest behind the hill not a soul was in sight? And whether his own troops could arrive in time was still unknown.

Kou Zhong hurried several steps forward, he shouted loudly, “Great Khan is getting agitated too quickly. We released fireworks and rockets, only because our military strength is weak, afraid that it would not be enough to intercept the Khan’s army, hence we called in reinforcements. Everything can be discussed. If Great Khan is willing to cease the weapons of war, we will definitely repay. How about presenting the Great Khan with a thousand taels of yellow gold, three thousand oxen and horses, ten carts of mink fur, ten thousand carts each of cotton and silk textiles, and silk cloths, plus five more carts of spices and ten carts of fine wine?”

Hearing that, Ba Fenghan on top of the hill shook his head and said, “This kid casually opening up a river, but all in all he speaks clearly and logically. In this regard, Ol’ Ba really has to sigh while seeing only his dust and have no hope of catching up.”

Hou Xibai said, “He is showing generosity to others, but firmly set on emptying out Huangshang’s familial property.”

Li Shimin laughed and said, “As long as I don’t need to see them off, I can still afford it.”

Xieli slapped his horse to rush forward nearly a zhang and cursed on him, “You think I, Xieli am a three-year-old child. Unexpectedly you, Kou Zhong are so friendly. Pei! This time I am coming with an army of one million men, won’t your sons and daughters, wealth and silk be for me to take and bring back? Kou Zhong, stop talking nonsense, just bring it on, let me see what ability you have.”

Kou Zhong mused that I precisely want to talk nonsense, to stall for time. He heaved a sigh and said, “Great Khan may not know it, but since Longquan, my heart has already softened! Ay! To be honest, if Great Khan thinks that by attacking Jingyang your army can prevail, you are gravely mistaken. The reason why we were able to prepare adequately this time to wait respectfully for the Great Khan and talk about the conditions for peaceful coexistence, there is actually another inside story, but let me make a report later. For now, let’s set aside this aspect and not talk about it first. Let’s talk about Great Khan’s army of one million. If the Great Khan is willing to assemble your one million men and horses, let me count them one by one. Supposing the number is really one million, I, Kou Zhong, will immediately kill myself in front of the Great Khan.”

Hearing that, Li Shimin and the others let out a loud laughter, but Xieli was dumbstruck and unable to reply; he spoke angrily, “How many men and horses I bring, why should I prove it to you? Do you think I’m an idiot?”

Kou Zhong hit the snake following the stick, he hurriedly smiled apologetically and said, “Great Khan, please calm down. We know everything about Great Khan’s entire marching plan like the back of our hand. Would Great Khan be interested in investigating it?”

Xu Ziling had no choice but to praise inwardly that Kou Zhong was very smart, because he hit the vital point of Xieli’s misgivings, and achieved their purpose of stalling for time. Although he still could not guess what lie Kou Zhong was going to tell Xieli, but since he was a kid, blathering nonsense has always been Kou Zhong’s forte.

When Xieli saw that there were no enemies coming out of the dense forest behind the hill, he became overly suspicious. Hearing that, he could not help saying, “Speak up! No one is keeping your mouth shut.”

Kou Zhong said, “In this matter, we should thank Yushan Xiong a lot.”

Next to Zhao Deyan, Xiang Yushan knew the turn of events was far from good, his countenance changed, he said angrily, “Great Khan must not listen to him babbling nonsense, creating something from nothing to slander Yushan.”

Kou Zhong spoke cheerfully, “Yushan Xiong‘s Tujue language is very fluent. Ha! I’m telling the truth, it was all thanks to you laying out the plan on a tray, informing your lingxiong [your esteemed older brother] Shengchun, and Shengchun Xiong surrendered to us, plus Huangshang and I discussed it in detail, hence we were not caught off guard like waking up from a dream when the Great Khan’s soldiers are at the city wall. Ha! Yushan Xiong, don’t you think we should be grateful to you?”

Immediately the murderous intent in Xieli’s pair of eyes were flaring greatly, he turned around to look at Xiang Yushan.

Greatly terrified, Xiang Yushan said, “Great Khan, please believe Yushan, I swear I didn’t tell anyone, Shifu!” The last word was addressed to Zhao Deyan.

Xieli shouted angrily, “Guoshi [teacher of the state]! How could you recommend such a rubbish for me to use?”

Bowing his head, Zhao Deyan said, “Deyan knows his guilt.”

Xiang Yushan’s face was without human color [i.e. pale] even more, he spoke in a trembling voice, “He is framing Yu … ah!”

Zhao Deyan backhandedly slapped him in the face, Xiang Yushan screamed in agony, flew backwards and fell off the horse, and died on the spot.

A burst of emotional stirring welled up in Xu Ziling’s heart. Xiang Yushan’s death could not wipe out his crimes! But after all, he was Little Lingzhong’s biological father. To end up like this, it made people sad. Also, it was precisely due to this relationship that he and Kou Zhong had never been able to harden their heart toward him.

Ba Fenghan shouted in a low voice, “Good kid!”

Li Shimin said happily, “They’re here!”

The sound of hoofbeats came faintly from behind, from afar coming near.

Hearing the sound of hoofbeats, Xieli’s countenance changed slightly, he urged on his horse to return inside the disposition of troops.

Kou Zhong had no time to lament the death of Xiang Yushan. This was his very formidable move [in the game of chess]. Not only did he borrow Xieli’s, whose frame of mind was suboptimal, to get rid of Xiang Yushan, this calamity within his bosom, he also made the Tujue side to believe firmly without any doubt that there were hidden troops inside the dense forest, because since they already knew from Chi Shengchun about the offensive plan of the allied armies from beyond the Great Wall, surely they would set up an ambush separately, and were fully prepared, leaving Xieli with no option except meeting the attack head-on. Under such circumstances, Xieli would not be stupid enough to deploy his troops to attack the Great Tang Army, who have been waiting with stored-up momentum, but would wait for the allied armies to assemble together, and only after they have cultivated their spirits enough would they determine victory and contend for supremacy with the opponent on the battlefield.

The sound of hoofbeats gradually approached, under Ma Chang, Song Faliang, Song Shuang, Song Bang, and Wang Xuanshu, the Shao Shuai and Song Family Army’s three-thousand-man elite cavalry appeared on the forest path. They split into five teams of six hundred men each, their banner flying, they galloped over. Two teams went straight up the hill, one team stayed behind the hill, and the other two cavalry teams galloped to the left and right of the plain. Just by looking at their formation, they knew that these were the elite of the elites, their movement quick and efficient. As soon as arriving at the scene, they formed troops formation that could attack and defend. On top of that, everyone’s spirit was trembling with excitement [idiom: full of energy], without the slightest sign of fatigue.

Kou Zhong knew the time has come, upright and unafraid he stepped forward and said with a laugh, “Great Khan has come a long way on an arduous journey, we might as well have a cease fire tonight, retreat twenty li each, and wait until the two sides gather the men and horses, and then decide victory or defeat in one battle, better than you look at me I gaze at you until dawn in here, and still don’t know when we can go back to lie down and get a good sleep.”

Tonyukuk and Kang Qiaoli separately approached Xieli to talk, while Xieli stared ferociously at Kou Zhong without saying a word.

Kou Zhong knew that Xiele was afraid he was playing trick, he sighed and said, “When did what I, Kou Zhong say did not count? Whether tonight will end peacefully or not, Great Khan can decide with one word.”

Xieli ferociously threw his horsewhip to the ground, pointing his halberd fingers, he cursed, “Retreat, I want to see how long you, Kou Zhong can be complacent!”

‘Knock! Knock! Knock!’

Kou Zhong sat up from the bed, he said in shock, “Is the enemy coming? Where am I?”

Wang Xuanshu pushed the door and entered in, he said respectfully, “There is still no trace of the enemy, this is the Zongguan Mansion inside Wugong City.”

Kou Zhong still had lingering fears, he said, “Just now I dreamt that Xieli came to besiege the city. His granny’s! I hope that after disposing Xieli, that little kid, I won’t have this kind of a nightmare, I’ve had enough.”

Waiting upon him to put on his clothes, Wang Xuanshu said, “It is already two o’clock, Huangshang, Xu Ye, Hou Ye, and the others are waiting for Shaoshuai to have lunch in the main hall.” And then, lowering his voice, he said, “I wonder if Shaoshuai would allow Xuanshu to deal with Yang WenGan, that traitor.”

Kou Zhong said in astonishment, “Yang WenGan? Did you find him?”

Wang Xuanshu’s pair of eyes turned red, he nodded and said, “We conducted a citywide search last night and arrested Chi Shengchun, Yang WenGan and fifty-seven thugs from Jingzhao Lian on the spot at the East Gate.”

As he was freshening up, Kou Zhong was greatly delighted, he said, “No wonder last night Xieli and Zhao Deyan believed my words without any doubt. Turns out Chi Shengchun is hiding in Wugong to provide assistance from the inside, he indeed knew about Xieli’s plan, ha! Of course I can hand over Yang WenGan to you to deal with. But you must promise me that after getting rid of Yang WenGan, you have to throw out all hatred and desire for revenge, and treat my good Meizi Xiao He’er well. Even more, you must not view Shuni as the enemy, all right?”

Wang Xuanshu nodded incessantly, hot tears gushing out, he sobbed and said, “Xuanshu accept the order, thank you very much Shaoshuai.”

Kou Zhong picked up a steamed bun and chewed vigorously, he sighed and said, “I never thought there would be such delicious food during the war. Oh! Why aren’t you guys eating?”

Shaking his head, Ba Fenghan replied, “I already ate a sichen ago, now I am too full to eat anything else. You, this kid, slept until the sun is four poles high before getting out of bed; we even had to send someone to coax and plead with you. How can a commander-in-chief be that lazy?”

Li Shimin laughed and said, “Sleep is a good fortune.”

In the main hall of the Wugong City Zongguan Mansion, they all gathered around the table for lunch. Apart from Li Shimin, Kou Zhong, Ba Fenghan, Xu Ziling, Hou Xibai, and Ma Chang, there was also Pang Yu, who had just hastened here to report the situation to them.

Kou Zhong remembered what Yang Gongqing said that a commander-in-chief must be able to sleep peacefully, yet Yang Gongqing could not personally witness the grand occasion of the unification of the world. His heart ached, he turned to Pang Yu and said, “Pang Xiong, please repeat your report.”

Pang Yu hurriedly said, “Jingde went to defend Jingyang, and sure enough, a ten-thousand-man Tujue army came to attack, they were caught unprepared by Jingde’s hidden troops; the beheaded were more than a thousand, the captured were more than five hundred, including their captain Sijinashidewumechuo.”

Kou Zhong spoke in delight, “This is good news. Such a long name, fancy that you are able to say it in one go, ha … Does that mean that we can keep these three cities to serve as barriers north of Chang’an?”

Li Shimin replied, “The situation is not optimistic at all. The key is that time is not on our side. Because our massive military force is divided between Taiyuan and Luoyang, the military strength in Chang’an is weak. Even if we add the Imperial Guards, it is only a mere forty-thousand men. If we divide our troops further to strongly defend the three cities, Chang’an’s military strength will be reduced further to a half. If Xieli launches an attack within three days, he could easily cut off the connection between the three cities. At that time, if he concentrates his forces on attacking one of the cities, this city will definitely be hard to protect. Our situation is precarious.”

Kou Zhong said, “We could help via the waterway. With pincer attack from front and back, how could Xieli not withdraw his troops?”

Ba Fenghan said, “We have just studied this problem, it depends on the strength of the allied armies. For example, if the number of troops Xieli can use is two hundred thousand or above, as long as they split fifty-thousand men and horses and stationed them north of Bianqiao [temporary bridge] of the Wei River, Chang’an won’t be able to split the troops to help, because it is powerless to defend itself. And Xieli also have enough power to cut off the traffic of the Wei River, both water and land, two routes.”

Hou Xibai said, “If Xieli wants to capture Chang’an, he must take the three cities first, to obtain rations and fodder, and establish a stronghold. According to the intelligence report, after pulling back his troops more than ten li last night, Xieli immediately sent his men to the Wei River to fish and hunt in the nearby mountains and fields. Clearly the Tujue side’s lack of food supplies is serious, it might force Xieli to disregard everything and launch an attack.”

Kou Zhong grabbed a steamed bun and chewed it vigorously. His expression relaxed, he asked, “What other information is there about Xieli, little kid?”

Ma Chang replied, “Another army of more than ten thousand men arrives, but it is not yet clear they are the warriors of which tribe?”

Kou Zhong looked at Li Shimin, he said, “Huangshang won’t blame me for the voice of the guest overwhelms that of the host [idiom: minor player upstages the main attraction]?”

Li Shimin laughed and said, “Go to your granny’s! Quickly find a way for me.”

Nobody thought Li Shimin would speak vulgar language, immediately their laughter shook the hall.

Kou Zhong laughed and said, “Turns out Huangshang is more fluent in vulgar language than Laozi [I, your father]. Ha! What about my Shao Shuai, the Song Family, and Laodie [ol’ dad], three armies?”

Ma Chang replied, “Just last night, coming by boat from Liangdu to the west. On the way, they will rendezvous with Li Shiji Xingjun Da Zongguan [big chief of marching army], the total military strength reaches 170,000 men. They also bring thirty Eight-Bow-and-Crossbow-Arrow machines, and fifteen large Flying Stones. The Flywheel fleet will arrive approximately early morning the day after tomorrow.”

Xu Ziling said, “If we can buy three more days, there will be enough strength to face Xieli.”

Hou Xibai sighed and said, “The situation is not optimistic at all. As long as Xieli launches an attack today, our only option is to abandon the three cities and strongly defend our position in Chang’an. In any case, it’s better than attending to one thing and lose sight of another, and fail to defend Chang’an.”

Acting as if he did not hear him, Kou Zhong patted his belly, showing a satisfied expression of eating and drinking to the full and intoxicated. His gaze swept over everybody, unable to take their eyes off him, pricking up their ears to listen to what he had to say. Finally his eyes landed on Xu Ziling, he laughed and said, “Ling Shao, have you withdrawn your magic weapon [orig. ancient weapon like a long solid metal truncheon]?”

Xu Ziling spoke indifferently, “I know you have a card up your sleeve, yet because you are so pleased as to lose your sense of measure, you are keeping listeners in suspense. Just say it! Don’t let Xieli’s soldiers at the city walls before you realize that you are wasting propriety-must-be-argued time available.”

Ba Fenghan caught on, “How is your injury?” he asked.

Kou Zhong replied, “That was just the reason why I slept until the sun is four poles high. Ha! I can make Xieli dare not stand up and take the risk, and launch an attack without waiting for the main forces to assemble.”

Shaking his head, Ba Fenghan said, “I know Xieli’s nature better than you. Don’t be fooled by his irascible and ferocious outward appearance. The fact is that he is a daring but cautious person, adept in winning by a surprise move, once he figures out what is true and what is false in us, he will definitely launch a fierce attack immediately. According to my estimation, he will rest well during the day and start operations at night. The Golden Wolf Army has always excelled in night attack.”

Kou Zhong said, “He will never understand our inside information clearly, because he lost the Xiang Family, who had become the traitor and be his spy. And our strength can be hidden inside Chang’an and the three northern cities. With his current military strength of forty-thousand men, to capture any one city outside Chang’an is still something that he cannot accomplish in an hour or three quarters of an hour. Focusing on this point, we can assemble warships at the Wei River north of Chang’an City to bluff by put on an air that we could support the three cities any moment. If there is no other choice, how could Xieli dare to take any risk? If his vanguard unit is destroyed, other things need not be mentioned.”

Knitting his brows, Hou Xibai said, “But because of lack of food, Xieli might have no other choice. As long as he sends his troops to attack any city outside Chang’an, our momentum’s original identity will be fully revealed.”

Grinning, Kou Zhong said, “The most ingenious part of my plan is to let him have a choice.”

Li Shimin’s pair of eyes lit up, he said, “The plan will be calmly revealed?”

Kou Zhong calmly shrugged his shoulders and said, “It’s very simple. If he lacks food, we will send him two- or three-days’ worth of food to meet his needs, so that he won’t need to take a risk out of desperation due to lack of food.”

Everybody could only return a blank stare.

Knitting his brows, Xu Ziling said, “Won’t it show clearly that we are afraid of him?”

The more Kou Zhong thought about it, the more amused he was, he said, “Au contraire, it is a continuation of empty is real, and it’s a combination of kindness and power. We will use that Siwhatsisnamemedechuo in company with the more than five hundred prisoners to escort the food carts, surely it will make Xieli and Zhao Guoshi and the others be shrouded in a thick haze of doubts and suspicions. It will also show that we are attentive and thoughtful toward him. I dare to guarantee that they will be unable to make any sense of the matter, and because they have the capital to make a choice, they have to wait until they are completely sure before planning to have a decisive battle with us on the plain on the north bank of the Wei River.”

Li Shimin nodded and said, “This can still be considered as troops-deployed-to-mislead-the-enemy tactic, but the rations and fodders must be delivered to the enemy’s camp before dusk.”

Pang Yu stood up and said, “Chen [I, your servant] will go immediately …” And left in a hurry.

Ba Fenghan said, “Supposing Xieli still chooses to attack, how should we respond?”

Remaining clam and unruffled in the midst of chaos, Kou Zhong said, “Wugong is real, Jingyang and Xianyang are empty, Chang’an is empty, the fleet of ships is real. No matter how Xieli has three heads and six arms, he still cannot escape my, Kou Zhong’s five-finger barrier.”

Slapping the table, Li Shimin said, “I completely agree. I will personally defend Wugong City, in concert with Shaoshuai, we will adopt a flexible strategy of steady defense and sudden and violent attack. If Xieli dares to invade our territory, he will be humiliated.”

Kou Zhong said, “Our advantage is that not only we have a city to defend, even more crucial is the control of the Wei River. If we divide the fleet into two, one group can be stationed at the Wei River Bianqiao, the other group is stationed near the enemy. Merely such arrangement will be enough to make Xieli not daring to rush indiscriminately into action.”

Ba Fenghan finally agreed, he said, “If I were Xieli, I won’t dare to take such a strange risk. If the retreat route is cut off, in case I suffer defeat, it will be difficult to escape the fate of total defeat of an army.”

Kou Zhong turned to Ma Chang, he laughed and said, “Why were Yang WenGan and Chi Shengchun so easy to get along with, unexpectedly willing to have their hands tied and waiting to be captured?”

Ma Chang replied, “Their luck was lacking, at that time, knowing that the turn of events was not too encouraging, they wanted to force their way through the city gate, and happened to run into Mojiang and Faliang coming back from patrolling the city, so they were caught red-handed.”

Kou Zhong said to Li Shimin, “Will you let me I deal with these two people?”

Without a second thought, Li Shimin replied, “They are yours!”

Stretching his limbs, Kou Zhong said, “Time is short, we will look into how to move an army and send a general, and then put them into practice. I hope tonight I can get a good night’s sleep.”

Hou Xibai spoke cheerfully, “Shaoshuai ought to have your wishes come true.”

Ba Fenghan said, “But I thought we won’t have a chance to sleep tonight. Xieli will, with thousand ways, a hundred plans – sound out our ability to meet a contingency. If you want to sleep, you should go to bed now.”

Xu Ziling nodded and said, “I agree with Fenghan. Tonight will not be a peaceful night.” And then his gaze turned to Hou Xibai, revealing a rarely-seen mischievous smile, he spoke slowly, “And it will be a brilliant night with fireworks show.”

Everyone understood, they cheered in chorus.