On the walls of Duanyun Fortress, Chimu Khan rested his hand on the saber at his waist, his gaze fixed grimly on the land beyond the city.
As the heart of the northern defensive line established by the various tribes of the Cangyuan Khanate, Duanyun Fortress stationed a full thirty thousand troops.
Thirty thousand men sounded like an enormous army, but Chimu Khan understood better than anyone that the fortress’s defensive system was in an abnormally strained and precarious state.
Duanyun Fortress was not merely a military stronghold. It was also the logistical hub on which the Cangyuan Khanate’s great army depended for survival. Within its walls stood two enormous granaries, along with stockpiles of weapons, horse fodder, and winter supplies.
Over the past half month, the Dasheng army had been like invisible ghosts, constantly sowing panic along supply routes and around the fortress’s perimeter. Commander-in-chief Helian Cang had detected Dasheng’s designs on their provisions and decisively issued the order to double the troops guarding Duanyun Fortress’s granaries.
Chimu Khan had never doubted the correctness of this order.
Food and provisions were the lifeblood of the Cangyuan Khanate’s army. If they were lost, the entire northern defensive line would collapse without a fight.
However, Prince Su Xiao Yuan of Dasheng employed tactics that clung to them like a shadow yet never engaged them in direct confrontation. These tactics had turned an entirely sound order into a heavy shackle.
To maintain more troops than usual for inspecting, guarding, protecting, and patrolling the supplies, Chimu Khan had been forced to divert large numbers of soldiers originally assigned to rotating the troops on the walls and guarding the outer perimeter into the inner city.
On paper, thirty thousand troops still occupied the fortress. In reality, the forces that could immediately be deployed for intensive defensive combat had long since been divided and fragmented by layer upon layer of assignments.
Worse still, the reserve forces originally responsible for rotating the troops on the walls and providing mobile support had also been forced into the defensive lines around the granaries and inner city.
The soldiers had not died beneath blades or swords, yet their physical strength and morale were being severely depleted by daily inspections, endless nighttime patrols, and the fear of an attack that might emerge from the darkness at any moment.
The routes for moving troops within the fortress had also become extraordinarily complicated and cumbersome because of the layers of defensive barricades and obstacles.
What Chimu Khan had truly lost was not the thirty thousand men inside the fortress. It was the mobile reserve force that could rush to reinforce any section of the walls the instant it came under threat.
Over the past two days, the pressure exerted by Dasheng had suddenly become tangible.
The troops of Qin Feng, one of Dasheng’s vanguard generals, had advanced to the outskirts of Duanyun Fortress.
Yet they did not immediately launch a thunderous assault. Instead, like an experienced butcher peeling away the layers of an onion, they methodically eliminated the outlying scout posts and seized two small elevated positions.
Every night, small detachments pushed wheeled mantlets toward the fortress, calmly testing the maximum effective range of its bows and crossbows and accurately measuring the width of the defensive moat. Whenever Chimu Khan dispatched cavalry to drive them away, the Dasheng troops immediately withdrew like the tide, refusing to become entangled in battle.
These low-intensity engagements pushed everyone inside Duanyun Fortress to the brink of tension.
Chimu Khan knew that the enemy was mapping out the fortress’s very bones and veins.
◇◆◇◆◇
One day’s journey from Duanyun Fortress lay Yanqidu, the strategic hub at the northernmost end of the defensive line.
Helian Cang stood before the enormous map of the northern frontier inside his main command tent, his eyes cold and penetrating.
A sheet of paper, creased from repeated examination, lay on the desk.
Stationed here was the Cangyuan Khanate’s true mobile main force: a full fifty-five thousand elite troops, including cavalry, heavily armored infantry, and a navy responsible for transporting supplies and soldiers along the waterways.
These were the Cangyuan Khanate’s claws and fangs—the lethal force that could strike any invading enemy with devastating power by following the waterways or main roads.
But Helian Cang did not wait for battle reports to arrive before thinking through the situation. His sharp, hawk-like eyes were fixed on three points on the map: Baishui Pass, Duanyun Fortress, and Yanqidu.
“What is the situation at Baishui Pass?” Helian Cang asked in a deep voice.
“Reporting to the commander-in-chief, General Tuoba Lie has sent an urgent report.”
A general hurried forward, his expression grave.
“Pei Yi has maintained sustained pressure over the past few days. The siege towers are complete, and the heavy ballistae have been moved to the front lines. General Tuoba reports that Pei Yi could launch a full-scale assault at any moment. The fifteen thousand men stationed at Baishui Pass absolutely cannot be moved, or the barbican will fall.”
Helian Cang said nothing, merely nodding slightly.
Pei Yi was genuinely preparing to attack the fortress.
Xiao Yuan had stationed Pei Yi there precisely to sink his teeth into the shield of Baishui Pass and hold it fast.
Helian Cang’s gaze then shifted to Duanyun Fortress, at the center of the map.
Over the past half month, urgent reports from Chimu Khan had arrived like snowflakes. The outer perimeter was being harassed, supply routes were obstructed, Dasheng scouts were pressing ever closer, and the defenders inside the fortress were exhausted from guarding the granaries day and night.
“Xiao Yuan…”
Helian Cang’s knuckles tapped lightly against the desk, producing a dull sound.
The generals around him did not dare even breathe too loudly.
“Do you think Xiao Yuan is merely creating a diversion?” Helian Cang suddenly asked. His voice was hoarse, yet it carried an unnerving insight. “No. He is openly repairing the plank road while openly crossing Chencang. Pei Yi’s attack on Baishui Pass is real, but the heart he truly intends to crush first is Duanyun Fortress.”
He straightened, his eyes blazing.
“I ordered Duanyun Fortress to double the number of troops guarding its granaries, and Chimu Khan carried out that order well. But after half a month of torment at Xiao Yuan’s hands, that order has become a burden on the fortress. Now Qin Feng is repeatedly testing its defensive blind spots from outside. He is preparing for a genuine, devastating blow.”
“Does the commander-in-chief mean that Duanyun Fortress is the real battlefield?”
“Xiao Yuan knows I can see through it. This is an open contest of strategy. Relay my military orders!”
The generals in the tent immediately dropped to one knee.
“Yanqidu is to enter the highest state of combat readiness at once. Assemble the cavalry and infantry, and prepare the warships immediately. Do not wait for a distress signal from Duanyun Fortress. Prepare to march now. If Xiao Yuan dares attack Duanyun Fortress, I will grind Qin Feng’s vanguard into minced meat!”
He understood perfectly well that Xiao Yuan could not commit all his forces to Duanyun Fortress.
Pei Yi had to keep Baishui Pass occupied. Troops still remained at Yangu Plain to guard against threats, and Qin Feng’s vanguard could not completely abandon its rear.
He had calculated that the number of troops Xiao Yuan could commit to Duanyun Fortress in a single assault would not be particularly large.
These seemingly extensive maneuvers were, at their core, an attempt to use small forces to shift the balance of the entire defensive line.
As long as his main army arrived, all of Xiao Yuan’s efforts would come to nothing.
However, half an hour later, the general who had gone to relay the orders to the logistics department came rushing back into the command tent, drenched in sweat.
“Commander-in-chief! Our departure… may be delayed!”
Helian Cang turned around, his gaze as sharp as a blade.
“What happened?”
“It’s the ships…” The general swallowed. “The naval commander reports that critical mechanisms on several troop transport warships have become severely jammed, and some of the lower rudder ropes have even snapped. If we force the heavily armored infantry aboard and attempt to sail upstream, an accident is inevitable. The parts must be replaced urgently, and that will take time.”
Helian Cang’s expression darkened.
“What about the land route? Use the bridges!”
“That is precisely what I came to report…” The general hesitated. “Of the routes from Yanqidu that can carry heavily equipped troops south quickly, only two permanent bridges remain capable of handling them. The floating bridge can no longer be assembled. A fire broke out last night in the tent where the timber for the floating bridge was stored. The fire was not large, but the specially made interlocking fasteners and the main load-bearing beams were destroyed.”
Helian Cang closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
Problems with ship mechanisms and missing materials for a floating bridge did not sound like world-shattering disasters. The ships could be repaired and the supplies replenished.
But for an army of fifty-five thousand men that urgently needed to redeploy, they were nothing short of a nightmare.
The number of routes across the river had suddenly shrunk, while the waterways’ transport capacity had plummeted.
The army that should have poured forth like a raging flood was now forced to squeeze through a bottleneck, waiting in line.
The warships seized twenty-five years ago were already old and built to inconsistent specifications. Several had long been listed by the navy as needing repairs, but those repairs had been repeatedly postponed rather than properly completed.
Yet now, one after another, they were developing problems at critical moments.
Helian Cang finally understood.
Those ships had not simply broken down today.
Dasheng had long since mapped out the arteries connecting these three military strongholds.
Xiao Yuan’s men had not carried out conspicuous acts of sabotage that might expose them. They had merely ensured that several components already due for replacement, repair, or retirement failed prematurely at the worst possible moment.
Xiao Yuan had known all along that he would order reinforcements to Duanyun Fortress.
Therefore, the true killing move was not how to deceive their eyes, but how to slow their hands and feet.
He rapidly recalculated the timing in his mind.
The terrain, the roads, the weather, the condition of the soldiers…
Soon, he reached a conclusion.
Helian Cang opened his eyes, determination filling them. He glanced at the thin sheet of paper on the desk.
“Repair the ships.” He straightened and issued his orders without a word of unnecessary explanation. “Replace the critical components on every warship that can still be used. Reorganize the order of passage across the bridges. Send the supply wagons, weapons units, and cavalry across the river in separate batches. Even if they have to crawl, they must reach Duanyun Fortress in the shortest possible time.”
He had calculated it. Even with the delay, they could still make it in time.
Their numbers would also give them the advantage.
This was not reckless haste, but precise calculation.
Even if they failed to arrive in time or something went wrong, he still had another move.
He wanted to see just how many steps ahead Xiao Yuan had calculated.
◇◆◇◆◇
Under the same sky, inside Dasheng’s main command tent.
An enormous sand table of the northern frontier occupied the center of the tent.
Red flags bearing wolf-head symbols, representing the Northern Di troops, were scattered across the sand table. Baishui Pass, Duanyun Fortress, and Yanqidu were clearly marked, with the flags representing the forces of both sides arranged across the terrain.
Thin red lines connected the three strongholds, marking the visible main roads, courier routes, and waterways, as well as several underground passages discovered by the secret guards.
Xiao Yuan, clad in armor, studied the sand table intently, integrating and calculating all the information in his mind.
Troop strength, roads, intelligence, and time.
These four variables continuously intertwined and rearranged themselves in his thoughts.
At Duanyun Fortress, no provisions had been lost, but the number of troops on guard had doubled.
At Baishui Pass, Pei Yi’s pressure had not yet reached its peak.
At Yanqidu, the secret guards reported that a small fire had broken out last night in the enemy camp where the materials for the floating bridge were stored.
As for the waterways, some Northern Di warships had worn rudder ropes and damaged mechanisms. Their hull designs varied, some were old, and there were too few shipwrights available for repairs.
“Tuoba Lie’s troops have been pinned down by Pei Yi.”
Xiao Yuan spoke calmly, as though talking to himself, or perhaps to the people beside him.
“Chimu Khan’s men have been worn down by the provisions and exhaustion, and the inner-city defenses have become cumbersome. The only variable left is Helian Cang.”
Xia Lanshi stood to one side, looking at Yanqidu on the sand table.
“Your Highness, Helian Cang is no ordinary opponent. Although General Qin has been cautious in his maneuvers around Duanyun Fortress, someone as perceptive as Helian Cang will certainly guess our true intentions.”
“He has to.”
Xiao Yuan straightened, a flash of understanding for his longtime adversary passing through his eyes.
“If he lacked even that much insight, he would not deserve to have stood against me on this northern frontier for so many years.”
Xiao Yuan raised his hand and lightly touched the road connecting Yanqidu to Duanyun Fortress with his fingertip. His voice remained so calm that it betrayed not the slightest ripple of emotion.
“He will assess the situation accurately, and his decisions will be sufficiently decisive. I hope he continues to calculate everything so accurately.”
An army of tens of thousands needed enough ships and sufficiently wide bridges to cross such vast terrain.
In the days leading up to this moment, the Su Guards and the secret guards had already carried out the operation known as “Severing the Arteries.”
They had not undertaken conspicuous acts of sabotage that might expose them. Instead, they had precisely targeted the weak points in the Northern Di army’s logistical maintenance.
Aging components and missing floating-bridge materials—these seemingly insignificant “accidents”—might ordinarily take only two days to fix. But in a battle where every second mattered, they had become a deadly quagmire.
Just then, a messenger hurried into the tent and knelt on one knee.
“Report! The central command observation post has received an encrypted message through the northern optical network!”
Without the slightest hesitation, the messenger decoded the message and reported, “Military cipherbook, Strategic Volume A. Intelligence confirmed: the enemy’s main force at Yanqidu has mobilized and is assembling in the direction of Duanyun Fortress.”
It was not a complete military report, merely a signal encoded using the cipherbook. But for the optical network system, transmitting the enemy commander’s strategic movements across hundreds of li to headquarters at extraordinary speed for the first time in actual combat was already devastatingly effective.
“He has indeed moved.”
After hearing the report, Xiao Yuan showed not the slightest surprise. If anything, his tone conveyed an understanding of his opponent.
He looked at the enormous flag representing Yanqidu on the sand table, the fighting spirit in his eyes igniting.
“And he has acted even more decisively than I anticipated.”
Xiao Yuan had never entrusted victory to the vague, wishful hope that the enemy would remain unaware.
This was an open contest in which both sides had their eyes wide open.
If Helian Cang calculated that Xiao Yuan was preparing to attack Duanyun Fortress, he would certainly come to its rescue, because he knew it was the heart of the defensive line.
Xia Lanshi raised his left wrist and glanced at the time on his watch before looking at Xiao Yuan with blazing eyes.
“Your Highness, Helian Cang has already moved. General Qin can no longer wait. Given Helian Cang’s marching speed, General Qin must break through the fortress at any cost and as quickly as possible. With both the waterways and land routes obstructed, once General Qin breaches the fortress, his first priority must be to seize the defenses and secure the retreat routes. Once Duanyun Fortress falls, the follow-up troops must immediately take control of the granaries and weapons stores. They absolutely must not pursue the fleeing enemy, lest their formation become scattered and leave them vulnerable to Helian Cang’s counterattack.”
“Precisely.”
Xiao Yuan straightened, his gaze cold and resolute.
Helian Cang had made the most correct choice.
And now, it was exactly what Xiao Yuan needed most.
If they waited any longer, Duanyun Fortress would receive its reinforcements intact. But if they attacked now, what Chimu Khan would receive was an exhausted force whose movements had been slowed by “Severing the Arteries,” whose soldiers were being forced to queue along the routes, and whose formations had yet to be fully assembled.
He turned to the messenger.
“Activate the wartime optical network. Synchronize orders across the entire line.”
Xiao Yuan’s voice was chillingly cold in the firelight.
“Order to the right army, Pei Yi: Hold the Shield.”
“Order to the left army, Qin Feng: Open the Fortress.”
“The preparatory strategic phase is over. Before Helian Cang’s troops can squeeze their way out of Yanqidu, I want to see the Silver Wolf Banner flying atop Duanyun Fortress.”
“Begin the assault!”
His voice rang through the firelit command tent.
This was a coordinated command directing multiple forces to act simultaneously. Orders that would ordinarily require courier horses to gallop for several hours were now transmitted in the shortest possible time. The optical network did not carry lengthy conversations—only the coldest, most standardized military commands.
◆◇◆◇◆
At Baishui Pass, west of Duanyun Fortress.
The double barbican fortress, known as the “Shield,” was now enduring unprecedented, tangible pressure.
Dasheng general Pei Yi sat astride his warhorse, holding the eighteen-jin spear known as Vanquishing the Army. He watched the towering walls ahead with a cold gaze.
Over the past several days, Pei Yi had given Baishui Pass no respite. His troops had not staged any empty show of force or feigned attacks. Instead, they had steadily advanced their forward camp by three li, bringing it directly beneath the fortress walls.
Heavy siege towers and trebuchets gradually took shape as the engineers assembled them. Battering rams stood ready at any moment, while the skirmishes between the scouts on the outskirts had escalated into bloody clashes involving hundreds of men.
Pei Yi’s deputy general had once looked at the expensive siege engines and asked, “General, are we really going to storm Baishui Pass? Tuoba Lie has more than ten thousand men, and forcing our way through this double barbican would cost us dearly.”
They all understood how dangerous and defensible a double barbican was. It was not a fortress that could easily be taken simply by bringing up a few siege towers and trebuchets.
“Who said we were pretending to attack?”
Pei Yi glanced at his deputy, his tone hard and unyielding.
“Tell the vanguard camp that every siege preparation must meet the standards required for an immediate breach. String the bows and crossbows. Put the ladders in position. If the pressure we apply is fake, that old wolf Tuoba Lie will see through it at a glance, and Helian Cang will never fall for it either.”
At that moment, a messenger approached Pei Yi and quietly reported, “General, the observation post has received a signal.”
Through the thin mist hanging over the vast northern lands, several flashes of light at specific intervals appeared on a distant tower.
“Military cipherbook, Strategic Volume C.”
The messenger decoded the message swiftly in his mind.
“The order from His Highness has arrived. The command is: ‘Hold the Shield.’”
The corner of Pei Yi’s mouth curved into a smile, and his eyes instantly became razor-sharp.
“Hold the Shield. His Highness’s meaning is clear: nail this shield firmly in place.”
“Relay my orders!”
Pei Yi raised his spear and pointed it straight at Baishui Pass.
“Advance the entire vanguard camp one hundred paces. Move the siege engines and trebuchets to within bowshot of the fortress. Position the heavy ballistae. Make Tuoba Lie believe that if he dares withdraw even a single soldier to reinforce another location, the next thing to fall may be his own fortress walls!”
His mission was not to force his way through the formidable double barbican before him.
His mission was to ensure that Tuoba Lie, trapped inside the fortress, did not dare look anywhere else.
◆◇◆◇◆
At the same time, at Duanyun Fortress.
The instant Qin Feng received the order through the optical network, he issued his commands without hesitation.
There were no earth-shaking war drums, only a dense rain of arrows, thick as a swarm of locusts.
Qin Feng’s sieges had never consisted of disorganized troops rushing forward all at once.
The low-intensity engagements over the past half month, combined with the aerial map of Duanyun Fortress provided by Xiao, had allowed him to shape the battlefield perfectly. He knew every blind spot in the fortress’s arrow towers and which sections of the walls had the densest concentration of bows and crossbows.
“Vanguard assault battalion! Advance with the mantlets and siege ladders. Probe the southern and western gates!” Qin Feng commanded calmly.
The Dasheng army launched a fierce probing attack.
On the command platform inside the fortress, Chimu Khan reacted swiftly. He was an excellent general, not someone who knew only how to calculate grain supplies. When the actual siege began, he immediately issued his orders.
“Dasheng’s main attack is coming from the southwest. Abandon the previous highest-alert deployment around the granaries. Leave only a hundred-man unit to defend the granaries and weapons stores to the death. All remaining troops assigned to logistics security are to be converted into mobile reserves and sent to the southern gate!”
He did not continue wasting troops on the warehouses simply because Dasheng had waged psychological warfare over the food supplies.
He knew that if the fortress fell, having mountains of grain would be useless.
But the problem was that his soldiers were exhausted. The men who had just been withdrawn from the granary security lines had bloodshot eyes. Their morale had been worn down to the breaking point by half a month of suspicion and unease. Now, hurriedly reorganized into reserve units, they moved heavily and sluggishly as they were redeployed.
Although the soldiers had grown resentful of Chimu Khan over the earlier grain crisis, they still followed his orders. They were simply a little slower to respond.
Qin Feng raised his telescope and watched the movements along the walls.
“Chimu Khan has pulled the logistics troops out,” he told his deputy. “The defenses at the southern gate have grown stronger.”
Qin Feng lowered his telescope, a glint flashing through his eyes.
“Third echelon, maintain high-pressure feigned attacks on the southern and western sides. Keep the Northern Di reserves pinned down there.”
He drew his saber and abruptly turned its blade toward the east.
“The crossbow formation’s blind spots along the eastern wall have been identified. Heavy infantry, advance with the siege towers and ladders. Take the eastern wall!”
◆◇◆◇◆
Inside Dasheng’s central command tent at Yangu Plain.
Xiao Yuan asked for a second update on the battle.
“How far have the ships from Yanqidu advanced?”
Standing before the sand table, Xia Lanshi held the latest consolidated intelligence and rapidly calculated the remaining window of opportunity.
“Reporting to Your Highness, the enemy’s first group of warships is moving upstream. Combined with the speed restrictions caused by their aging mechanisms, they have only just passed Baisha Bay. The infantry on the land route are still queuing to cross the two permanent bridges. They are expected to reach Duanyun Fortress in approximately two shichen.”
Xiao Yuan nodded slightly.
Helian Cang’s response had been as swift as possible, but the physical distance and deliberately created obstacles had slowed this enormous reinforcement force.
“How far has Qin Feng advanced?”
Xia Lanshi moved the flag representing Dasheng’s troops to the position of the eastern wall.
“The eastern wall is now under substantial pressure. Chimu Khan is mobilizing his last reserve forces. If General Qin can seize the walls within the next half hour, we will have sufficient time to establish our defenses.”
Xiao Yuan studied the sand table and issued a new order.
“Tell the follow-up siege units to advance. Inform the reserves that the moment Dasheng’s banner replaces the enemy’s on the walls of Duanyun Fortress, they are to enter the city immediately and take over its defenses. Prepare for Helian Cang’s counterattack.”
“This subordinate obeys.”