Chapter 560: Prisoners of War and Cleanup, Hou Bing’s Temptation |
Year 13 of Great Xia, Fourth Day of the First Month
The clash of swords and blades in Evergreen Valley lasted all the way until dawn broke.
As daylight crept in, the cold once again assaulted the land, and the fighting inside and outside the valley finally ceased. Apart from a few scattered skirmishes on the outskirts, almost no movement remained.
The ravine on the valley’s north side had long since been filled with water, and the surface held countless bodies of soldiers. Iron-tipped arrows still stuck out of many corpses. Though their wounds had frozen from the cold, the sheer number of bodies caused the blood to pool together, staining the ravine red.
Calling it a water surface or flowing water wasn’t quite right, because the cold had frozen the ravine’s water that night. That was why the bodies lay so still atop the ice.
Crack……
A long sword suddenly plunged into the ice on the south bank. Since the ice had only just frozen in the early daylight, it was only a few centimeters thick and could not stop the blade’s penetration.
“Build a bridge, break the ice, collect the bodies, the prisoner camp move first, the whole army assemble at Qingyu Gully quickly, everyone get moving, hurry, hurry!”
A command rang from above. The Xia troops below immediately sprang into action. Some carried stones to make a bridge, others hacked at the ice along the banks, and some dragged the frozen bodies out from under the ice and set them aside. Everyone went to work.
Most of them bore wounds and wore blank, bewildered expressions. Under the Xia soldiers’ guidance, they trudged forward in a dazed, defeated procession.
“Lord, the prisoners of war have been counted: 55,827 people. Only three are Sun Manifestation, the rest are all Warmth Realm cultivators. There are 262 with strength above 50 zong, and 1,561 between 30 and 50 zong.”
At the side of the prisoner camp, Hou Bing’s expression brightened slightly when he heard Lu Yin’s report.
After a great battle, the first step was always to tally the spoils, but that was not his usual responsibility. He had only just been assigned by Commander-in-Chief Yuwen Tao to oversee the prisoner camp, and keeping an eye on the more than fifty thousand Caiqiu captives was now his main duty.
“55,827 people. Although they’ve lost weapons and armor, they’re still Warmth Realm cultivators. If they riot, even unarmed they’ll be dangerous…”
Hou Bing stared at the segmented prisoners, pondered briefly, and then ordered, “Keep dividing them. Split the prisoner camp into five hundred groups, assign two squads to watch each group, escort them in batches to the main camp at Qingyu Gully. Pull everyone with strength above 30 zong out, bind them with collarbone restraints, pick three elite scout battalions to oversee them. Once the bridge is up, prioritize escorting those men over first.”
Even split into five hundred groups, each would still number over a hundred. Under Great Xia’s military system, a squad is twenty men. Twenty fully armed soldiers watching a hundred defenseless prisoners would be strained, but barely manageable.
As for those above 30 zong, they had to be bound with collarbone restraints. Even without weapons, their raw physical strength was formidable; the restraints neutralized that danger.
“Lord, the battle report from main command just arrived. Last night our army killed 32,867. With these prisoners added, the total is less than ninety thousand. Yuwen Yong is sweeping up scattered troops nearby, probably taking around ten thousand. So Caiqiu must have retreated at least fifty thousand. Why not petition the Commander-in-Chief to let us pursue while we have momentum?”
Hou Bing’s brow lifted slightly at Lu Yin’s suggestion. He was clearly tempted.
The Hou clan’s standing in Great Xia was actually a bit awkward.
As Great Xia grew and strengthened, internal factions multiplied. Eleven years ago, when Great Xia annexed Longyou, there were six strong factions in Xia City: Redwood Ridge, Mirror Valley, Wuyuan, Long Mountain, Honeycomb, and Longbei.
The Longbei faction, represented by the Hou family and led by his father Hou Jing, had the lowest status among those six.
There were many reasons for this. First, Zhaoyang Camp caused considerable trouble during Great Xia’s unification of Longyou, and because the Hous’ roots were tied to Zhaoyang, old-time Xia people naturally held grudges. Second, when the Xia army took Long Mountain, Zhaoyang’s leader Hou Hu fled with several Hou scions, which embarrassed those Hous who remained in Great Xia. Although Xia Hong never said anything outright, Department Chancellor Xia Chuan clearly held reservations toward them.
A key reason was that the Hou family still hadn’t entered the core circle led by the Xia clan.
Redwood Ridge needed no explanation: from humble origins they followed Xia Hong, and today many of their people fill the army and civil administration. They are the backbone of Great Xia and will likely remain unchallenged for a long time.
Mirror Valley boasted Yuwen Tao, a top powerhouse who headed the crucial Military Department. Its faction produced many military talents—Hong Guang, Hong Tian, Zhu Yuan, Meng Yi, Yuwen Yong—now all generals commanding their own forces. Younger talents like Meng Ao, Hong Yu, and Zhu Kang were singled out by the Department Chancellor last year for covert deployment in Chencang, promising them immense future merit.
Wuyuan’s leader Xiao Kangcheng was the Department Chancellor Xia Chuan’s father-in-law. His daughters Xiao Ning and Xiao Yu were chosen personally by Lord Xia Hong as marriage ties, making Wuyuan firmly connected to the lord family. The faction also had rising stars like Xiao Heng, Xiao Yan, and Xiang Liang.
Long Mountain’s head Li Tiancheng died two years ago, but they still had one Madam, Li Xuanling. Xia Hong had only one wife, so the Li family’s status as kin was huge.
By contrast, Longbei was sliding into irrelevance. Because of Hou Hu’s actions, they were already suspected by Xia Chuan. Their faction head Hou Jing was old and had no hope of reaching Sun Manifestation; he resigned as Deputy Department Head of the Hunting Department two years ago. Now the highest-ranking figure left in the faction was Hou Bing.
Hou Bing currently held the position of Commander of the Feipeng Army. That title was not insignificant in Great Xia, but for leading a faction it was underwhelming.
Look at other faction leaders’ positions and the difference becomes clear.
Yuwen Tao was Department Head of the Military Department.
Xiao Kangcheng had been Mountain Warden of Bashang’s hunting office and concurrently Garrison Commander of Heyin. After breaking through to Sun Manifestation last year, he was promoted to Garrison Chief of Bashang—an unquestionable territorial magistrate.
Long Mountain’s influence was even greater. Even without counting Madam Li Xuanling, they had six close imperial attendants—Mengying, Jiangping, Yueqian, Chengguang, Sunyan, Songkang—who could come and go at the Xia palace, plus commanders like Zhouyuan, Xu Shicheng, Zhang Jiuling, Yuan Shan, Yuan Ning, Lu Yushan, Wang Tao, and Liu Chang leading forces in the field.
A single Feipeng Army commander—how much clout could Longbei realistically wield?
If Longbei could truly consolidate, they might still matter, because the Hous had other figures like Feipeng Army Commander Hou Quan and Beizhao Army Commander Hou Tong. But the former now led one of Great Xia’s two strongest armies and needed to avoid factional ties, leaving no room for flirtations; and Hou Tong……
At the thought of Hou Tong, anger flared in Hou Bing’s eyes.
Beizhao Army originated from the original Beizhao squad, founded when Hou Jing led his men to join Great Xia; Hou Jing was the first squad leader.
When the Beizhao Army was established, Hou Jing pushed hard for its creation. Because of his position as Deputy Department Head of the Hunting Department, he could not join the front lines, so he had Hou Tong appointed as Beizhao Army commander.
With such ties, Hou Tong should have been firmly aligned with Longbei. Instead, the relationship changed. In Hou Tong’s early years commanding troops, he was close with Hou Jing’s family, but as Hou Jing fell from power and especially after he resigned the deputy post last year, Hou Tong ceased contact and grew close to Luo Yuan.
Redwood Ridge split into the Tupo and Rogge camps; Luo Yuan led the Rogge camp. Hou Tong’s actions made it clear he intended to defect to Luo Yuan’s fold.
As a fellow member of the Hou clan, Hou Bing could not accept Hou Tong’s treachery. But Longbei’s decline left him powerless. Hou Tong had held his command longer; by seniority Hou Bing had no standing to complain.
Longbei’s fading influence gnawed at Hou Bing. Over the past three years, Great Xia’s expansion absorbed Bashang, Jiangxia, Chuishan, and Muyin. New factional powers rose in Xia City, and Longbei’s voice dwindled.
Seeking shelter in numbers is the basic survival logic for survivors in the Ice Abyss, and the same logic applied in Xia City. With a population of millions, the lord cannot personally manage everything. Factions with greater strength and broader networks attract more resources and wield greater influence before the lord.
Now that Great Xia had unified the Southern Foothills, and towns like Longgu, Jinshan, Beishuo, Wuchuan, and Yangju were about to be incorporated, the upper echelons would undoubtedly reshuffle again. If Longbei did not act, it risked being squeezed into irrelevance.
Lu Yin was an old Zhaoyang man and a staunch Longbei supporter. He suggested Hou Bing petition Commander-in-Chief Yuwen Tao to mount a pursuit, clearly trying to spur change.
“Lord Xia Hong is with the army now. If you don’t show yourself at this moment, you may not get another chance. During last night’s battle, the lord deliberately let Cai Qiuhu and others escape. Now he’s ordered us to garrison at Qingyu Gully; he clearly doesn’t intend to advance north. I suspect Great Xia will soon seek negotiations with Caiqiu. If you don’t seize the moment now, you’ll miss a good opportunity.”
Lu Yin’s counsel stirred Hou Bing, but looking at the surrounding army he again revealed some hesitation and said in a low voice:
“Our army suffered heavy losses last night. I estimate we have over ninety thousand left. Yuwen Yong is clearing scattered troops and took twenty thousand with him. Fifty thousand troops are moving to garrison Qingyu Gully to guard against Caiqiu forces from Qinghua City. Yuwen Tao only gave me twenty thousand to handle these fifty thousand prisoners. If I petition to go on the offensive, will he be able to spare the troops for me?”
Although Great Xia had won a decisive victory at the valley entrance, it had still lost close to ten thousand men. Many Caiqiu soldiers were scattered during the clash and were now strung along both sides of the ravine; Yuwen Yong was leading troops to eliminate them one by one and taking some twenty thousand prisoners or captives, which was reasonable. Recon reports also indicated that Caiqiu’s reinforcement from Qinghua City, upon seeing the valley defeat, had halted and garrisoned around Guangning Mountain north of Qingyu Gully. They were consolidating their scattered forces and watching the Xia army. This was why Yuwen Tao ordered their troops to garrison at Qingyu Gully.
Many in Xia’s command already suspected Great Xia intended to negotiate with Caiqiu. If Caiqiu truly wanted to continue fighting, the seventy thousand troops from Qinghua City would not have stopped at Guangning Mountain; they would have advanced south into Qingyu Gully, perhaps even pressured the Xia forces directly. After a night of bloody battle, a counterattack then would have been the most logical move, but they didn’t.
The reason had been revealed by Lord Xia Hong during the battle. Caiqiu faced more than just Great Xia: Chencang was attacking Linchu County. Judging by the Qinghua forces’ hesitation, Linchu likely had trouble, and Caiqiu could not fight a two-front war, so their army did not advance.
All these factors combined strongly suggested Caiqiu sought negotiations.
Negotiations meant ceasefire, and once the war ended there would be little chance to earn military merits.
Hou Bing’s surface question—whether Commander-in-Chief Yuwen Tao would reassign troops to him—actually implied that if negotiations were likely, Yuwen Tao would not dispatch reinforcements for a renewed offensive. This was not the best time to petition for action.
Lu Yin heard the implication and did not answer immediately. He thought for a moment, then asked quietly:
“Lord, isn’t your military merit enough for ennoblement?”
“Of course. Since the twenty-sixth when I went out with the Commander-in-Chief to Jinyang, from bloodless captures of Yinhe Valley, Xiyuan, Bingfeng, Hanzhao, and Qinggu, to routing the Wuchuan–Jinshan allied army at the Pass battle, then smashing the allied army twice at Jinyang, to the southern Bone-Erosion Path major battle in the first half of last night and the valley entrance clash in the second half—this commander participated in all of it. I just had the Supply Department’s monitor verify my tally. This campaign alone gave me 720 merit points; with my previous 230, my total is 950 points, just one step short of eighth-rank ennoblement.”
There was a bitter edge in his voice. Although Hou Bing had broken through to Sun Manifestation last year, he had always fallen just short of earning a noble title and was often mocked for it.
This campaign at last allowed him to hold his head high.
“Would you be satisfied with ninth-rank ennoblement, Lord? Since you’re one step from eighth rank, why not take one more step yourself? What you said is right—if you petition now, the Commander-in-Chief likely won’t approve. So why not draw the men yourselves? Use the pretext of clearing the prisoner camp’s surroundings to hunt down scattered Caiqiu troops around Qingyu Gully. Fifty merits would then be within reach. If we get lucky and find large pockets of Caiqiu remnants, you could leap to seventh-rank Azure Abyss viscount!”
At those words, Hou Bing’s pupils suddenly burned with fervor.
If he could jump to a seventh-rank title, Longbei might truly revive.
“What’s your plan? Tell me!”