Chapter 43: Setting Out on the Campaign Against Ba County

"Sigh."

Liu Zhang let out a long breath. After pondering over who to send on the expedition to Ba County, he finally decided to lead the troops himself.

At this very moment, he was marching within the ranks heading toward Ba County.

If he were to dispatch someone else while remaining in Chengdu to command, messages would take days to travel back and forth, making real-time control of shifting situations impossible. Moreover, he had specific visions for the strategic landscape of Ba County and necessary subsequent measures to implement after quelling the rebellion. Entrusting this to another would likely yield results contrary to his intentions.

Above all, as a sovereign in the twilight of the Eastern Han dynasty, failing to lead troops in person, to campaign, and to walk through the smoke of battle meant falling short of being a qualified ruler.

Consider the three founding lords of Wei, Shu, and Wu.

Cao Cao started his rise from Yan Province, destroyed Lu Bu, pacified the two Yuans, accepted Liu Cong's surrender, executed Han Sui, and defeated Ma Chao. He fought north and south, spending the greater part of his life hunkered down in trenches.

Liu Peng—err, Liu Bei, who was cursed by Peng Yang as an old military rogue, likewise fought for his entire life without ever enjoying the fruits of victory, unlike Cao Cao who built the Bronze Sparrow Terrace and at least found two days of joy. In his quest to avenge Guan Yu, Liu Bei died of illness after the Battle of Yiling, which could well be counted as dying on the battlefield.

"Peng Yang." The thought of Liu Bei naturally brought to mind Peng Yang, a notable figure from the lands of Shu. In history, Peng had been shaved bald and reduced to a government slave due to his slanderous remarks against Liu Zhang.

Peng Yang was a man of genuine military talent. When Liu Bei entered Shu, Peng surrendered to him, and Liu repeatedly dispatched Peng to convey military orders and instruct various generals in their operations, with the outcomes perfectly matching Liu Bei's desires.

Liu Zhang stroked his chin. Peng Yang was a talent, albeit somewhat arrogant in temperament. He would have to track him down later, bring him into his own shogunate, and make him a military advisor to brainstorm ideas.

Setting Peng Yang aside, Liu Zhang thought of Sun Quan, the master of Wu. Sun Quan was an exception; he rarely led troops in person, though in his early days he certainly harbored the desire, only to find his commanding abilities utterly abyssal. In August of the 20th year of Jian'an, taking advantage of Cao Cao's military campaign in Hanzhong, Sun Quan personally led an army to attack Hefei, only to have Zhang Liao crush an army of one hundred thousand with a mere eight hundred men. This feat single-handedly elevated Zhang Liao into the Wumiao shrine while forever branding Sun Quan with the glorious moniker of "Sun the Hundred Thousand."

The Hefei campaign had been too embarrassing, causing Sun Quan to rarely lead troops personally in his later years, relying instead on his Grand Governors for conquests.

Considering the common thread among these lords, Liu Zhang, as a sovereign, naturally had to personally lead the expedition to subjugate Ba County. Yet, leading troops in person posed one major problem.

He did not know how to fight. Not only was he clueless, but his predecessor also lacked any campaign experience. While his own past life had involved a bit of research into ancient military formations and strategy books, those were purely theoretical exercises without any practical application.

This made things rather awkward.

However, Liu Zhang maintained a very open mindset. Just like when he had first entered society in his past life, and the interviewer asked how he dared to apply when he knew nothing at all—he had unabashedly replied, "I may not know how now, but I can learn."

The current rebellion in Ba County presented a prime opportunity for him to learn the art of war.

Gao Pei had sent a letter from Ba County stating that he had firmly secured Jiangzhou City, the commandery seat, and had further dispatched his subordinate Major Deng Xian with two thousand troops to garrison Baidi and Kuimen.

Barring accidents, Deng Xian should be able to hold Baidi and Kuimen, preventing the rebels of Ba County from moving eastward to join forces with the troops from Jing Province.

The rebels in Ba County were currently nothing more than turtles in a jar, reduced to fighting a desperate cornered beast. When factoring in the combined forces of Liu He and several major aristocratic clans, they were essentially a mob of rabble.

According to the intelligence gathered by Gao Pei, the rebel forces numbered around twenty to thirty thousand, but those truly capable of fighting were estimated at a mere four thousand. The rest were merely servants and commoners rounded up simply to boost morale.

Weighing the military composition of the rebel forces, he had brought five thousand Eastern Province soldiers, alongside four commandery majors—Wu Yi, Gan Ning, Xu Meng, and Xi Su—and their eight thousand personal retainers. To guard against any unforeseen contingencies, he had also brought two thousand Qingqiang tribal soldiers, making a total force of fifteen thousand heading out on the campaign.

Bringing any more would require significantly more preparation time, rendering a rapid deployment impossible unlike now, when news of the Ba County rebellion had reached Chengdu and he could immediately set forth.

Bringing any fewer, given his own lack of campaigning experience, would make it difficult to guarantee absolute safety—it would be disastrous if things overturned.

Fifteen thousand battle-hardened soldiers were more than enough to deal with the rabble of Ba County. Liu Zhang comfortably recalled a famous maxim: "Fifteen thousand against thirty thousand, the advantage is mine."

Regarding classical warfare, he possessed some understanding from his past life. A clash between two sides did not depend on sheer numbers, but rather on the proportion of professional soldiers detached from farming, the rate of armor distribution among the ranks, the fairness of rewards and punishments, and the trustworthiness of provisions.

In the third year of Chuping, a ready example existed: one million Qingzhou Yellow Turban soldiers, harried by the combined blows of Gongsun Zan and Zang Hong, poured into Yan Province and were defeated by Cao Cao, who was then the Administrator of Dong Commandery, and subsequently absorbed into his own forces.

Against a mob of rabble like the Ba County rebels, even if there were a million of them, what was there to fear?

This campaign served as an excellent practice run for him. He would use Liu He, this utter weakling, to test his own mettle and see if he possessed any innate talent for warfare.

***

"Elder Brother, your dark iron armor doesn't look as nice as mine."

"Go on, scram! They're all bloody dark iron armor, as if they come in different grades and classes."

Gan Ning stood on the third tier of the tall flagship, watching two of his subordinates bickering below over whose dark iron armor was superior, and could not help shaking his head with a smile.

His wise lord was exceedingly generous, distributing three hundred sets of precious dark iron armor in a single batch. Having spent so many years knocking about Ba County, Gan Ning's own force of over a thousand brothers had previously boasted only thirty suits of armor among them. Now, three hundred men were directly outfitted in full gear.

Such profound grace from Liu Zhang inspired Gan Ning to actively request the vanguard post. He wanted to accomplish something tangible for his lord; receiving money and official titles without doing any actual work had left him harboring a sense of guilt.

He also kept firmly in mind his lord's injunction regarding his appointment as vanguard. His wise lord had stated that this expedition to Ba County should not be one of slaughter, but rather one that combined benevolence with might, spreading virtue throughout the region. He was explicitly told to remember that Ba County was his native land and that wanton killing was strictly forbidden.

Gan Ning engraved this instruction deeply upon his heart.

***

"Truly cursed by bad luck, letting that Ba barbarian snatch the vanguard position." Xu Meng complained to Xi Su. Gan Ning securing the vanguard post had left him feeling somewhat resentful.

Xi Su felt no such grievance. He placated Xu Meng, saying, "Major Gan is a native of Ba County and is well-acquainted with the local geography. Since we are campaigning in Ba County, it is naturally fitting to let him lead the vanguard. Once we arrive in Ba County, we need only exert ourselves so that our achievements do not fall behind those of Major Gan."

Having said this, he offered a pointed reminder: "Ziyu, our lord instructed us to draw close to the people of Shu. The term 'Ba barbarian'—do not use it again in the future."

"I know, I know," Xu Meng waved his hand dismissively in agreement. When it came to the matters of returning to their native homeland in Guanzhong, he could still distinguish between what was weighty and what was trivial.

Before Xi Su, a fellow townsman, he might curse Gan Ning as a Ba barbarian, but before anyone else, he would naturally address Gan Ning as Major Gan, leaving no opening for others to criticize.

Immediately afterward, he sighed and brought up another matter: "Speaking of which, that fellow Gan Ning actually has considerable capability. Among the thousand soldiers transferred under his command, there's a fellow named Zhao Liu whom I know well. Before the transfer, he told me he was determined to show Gan Ning the style of Guanzhong men and let him see our prowess."

"Yet a few days ago, when I met Zhao Liu and brought up Gan Ning, the lad called him Major Gan at every turn, sounding more affectionate than if he were addressing his own parents. I truly have no idea what kind of soul-melting potion Gan Ning fed him."

"Then I suppose I am inferior to Major Gan. The thousand Shu soldiers transferred to my command—I haven't even gotten familiar with them yet." Xi Su took the matter in stride and praised Gan Ning, saying, "It seems Major Gan has his own methods for cultivating loyal retainers."

"And am I any different?" Xu Meng shook his head. Regarding the art of cultivating retainers, he held a deep measure of respect for Gan Ning, though he found it difficult to voice aloud given the past frictions between them.