Chapter 2: The Stormy Weather of Yan and Zhao Section 3

  November 184 AD

  Here is the translation:

  This place is eighty miles away from Lulong Pass, a stretch of small hills. The locals call it Half Waist Mountain. Beyond the mountain lies the Wet Water River. Recently, scouts have found it difficult to approach Red Flower Valley, always being intercepted and killed by enemy scouts. Li Hong has tried three times with his companions to approach from different directions, but they were all driven back, losing over a dozen brothers each time. Li Hong insisted on covering everyone's retreat every time, fighting off the enemy from behind. The soldiers in the scout team are willing to go on missions with him because it's relatively safe and not easy to die. Li Hong is particularly good at killing, and when he kills, he's as fierce as a tiger. Especially that magical small axe, which never returns without blood after a mission. The small axe is pitch black, including the handle, so everyone gave him the nickname "Black Kill". However, soldiers from all over have different accents, and "Black Kill" somehow became "Black Child". The name "Black Child" is easy to remember, and many people call out to him. As a result, everyone has forgotten his real name.

  Li Song told him that when everyone is together, they should call each other by their courtesy names. So every time, Li Hong seriously tells people, "My name is Li Hong, and my courtesy name is Zimin." People burst out laughing, looking at him like an idiot. But no one calls him Zimin.

  Li Hong was puzzled. Later, the leader of the hundred-man squad told him that everyone was a commoner, a poor citizen, some were even from servant families, who would be servants or maids for life. Many didn't know a single character, and some didn't even have a full name, only a nickname. They wouldn't know what courtesy names were; those were things that rich people and scholars played with.

  Li Hong was stunned. Thinking about it, he realized that in Xianbei, slaves weren't even as good as pigs or dogs, so what would they care about names? So Li Hong thought that Li Song had deceived him. What a joke! When I get back, I'll beat you up.

  The weather has been getting colder and colder, but the enemy has not made any moves. Tian Jing was getting anxious. His call for help had been sent out for ten days. If reinforcements came but the enemy didn't, he would be accused of spreading false military information and would end up in prison. So he personally ran to the vanguard's barracks and ordered them that they must enter Honghuagou within two days and must bring back accurate intelligence.

  Li Hong, who was already a wu zhang, came up with an idea. A wu zhang is just a leader of four soldiers, plus himself makes five, nothing special. Li Hong suggested entering the Luolong Pass from the south and then going upstream along the Nuoshui River to the Banyao Mountain. From there, walking twenty miles would bring them to the rear of the Red Flower Valley. Entering the valley from here might be possible. Xiao Dao was his superior officer. Xiao Dao went to report to the bai ren dui zhang Cheng Jie. Cheng Jie said the idea wasn't bad and it was worth trying. Who came up with this idea? Xiao Dao said it was that black guy sent by Lord Tian who came up with it. So they divided their troops into two routes. Bai ren dui zhang Cheng Jie led eighty men in a normal deployment, luring the enemy from the front. Shi chang Xiao Dao led twenty men along the Nuoshui River to Banyao Mountain.

  They set out at midnight and arrived at Ban Yao Mountain by noon.

  Banwaishan is surrounded by dozens of small hills. The trees on the mountain have all gone bald, and their ugly branches are showing off in various poses. The fallen leaves on the mountain emit a strong, intoxicating fragrance, and occasionally you can still smell the rotting branches and leaves.

  It's already early winter. Looking at the desolate and barren landscape, listening to the howling cold wind whistling in his ears, Li Hong's heart was also icy cold. He had great confidence in his own judgment, the bloody battle of Ludong Pass was about to unfold, and among the comrades sitting together now, how many would still be able to sit together in the future?

  The war horses were left by the river, watched over by two soldiers. Everyone walked on foot for over ten miles and was extremely tired. During a break in the rest, Xiao Dao called all four squad leaders together.

  "Let's discuss who will go?" Xiao Dao was a veteran, middle-aged, illiterate, with a beard that almost covered his mouth.

  Several people looked at each other silently. Xiao Dao's eyes turned to Li Hong. Li Hong hastily spoke up, "Let our squad go."

  Five people lay on the top of the mountain, looking down at the valley below. Below was Honghuagou Valley. The valley was densely packed with tall trees. Although most of the leaves had fallen off, nothing could be seen.

  "The Wuman people are probably at the east end of the valley. We're lying down at the west end, and can't see them." A thin soldier said softly. His name was Zheng Xin, and he used to be a hunter. In Li Hong's small squad, there were three other soldiers who were also hunters. The work of scouting was arduous and perilous, climbing mountains and wading through rivers, ordinary people couldn't do it. Letting hunters serve as soldiers for scouting could greatly shorten the training time, and their experience was rich.

  Li Hong beckoned to a sturdy man with a thick neck and a big head. The big man crawled over.

  "I'm going down. Da Tou, you lower the rope. Zheng Xin, Xiao Lan, Wu Ba, you four stay here and don't run around, wait for me to come back."

  Xiao Lan is a young adult who just arrived at the Lu Long Pass this spring. He likes to sleep in, so everyone calls him Xiao Lan. Wu Ba's family was poor and he could only eat by joining the army. He came with Xiao Lan. The two were extremely nervous, their hearts racing, and they lay flat on the ground, wishing they could bury themselves in the earth.

  Li Hong grasped the rope and ran down along the cliff like he was running a race. The few people at the top of the mountain stared with their eyes wide open.

  "Hei Zi must be a genius." Xiao Lan said with envy.

  "He's got great martial arts skills, he'll definitely become a high-ranking official in the future." Wu Ba said with a smack of his lips, speaking in a low voice.

  "You think you understand. Can having merits make one an official? Look at our superior, hasn't he got many military achievements? He's over 40 and still just a company commander." Zheng Xin said disdainfully.

  "County official is still young, have you made a mistake? The biggest official I've seen is only County Magistrate Tian." Wu Ba said with wide eyes.

  "So you're saying I'm unsophisticated and you still won't admit it. Do you know who's the most popular person in China right now?"

  Xiao Lan and Wu Ba shook their heads.

  "Huangfu Song. When the Yellow Turbans first started their rebellion, General Huangfu was a Zhonglang Jiang. Do you know what kind of official a Zhonglang Jiang is?"

  Two people lay on the ground, shaking their heads in ignorance, with eyes full of admiration for Zheng Xin.

  "Zhonglang Jiang is as big as our Right North Ping Prefecture Governor, and maybe even bigger. He became a Chejiang General after defeating the Yellow Turbans. Do you know how big of an official a Chejiang General is?"

  Two people shook their heads vigorously.

  "That's one of the top officials in the country, countable on one hand. That's what I call a big shot, you know?"

  Two people nodded. Xiao Lan wanted to ask something else, but was stopped by Da Tou with a glance.

  Wu Ba hadn't seen it, and was still saying: "Zheng big brother, do you think Hei Zi has offended someone, being demoted to Lu Long Pass? With his skills, wherever he goes, he's one of the best, his battle experience is far superior to yours, old soldier."

  Zheng Xin's eyes widened and he suddenly kicked Wu Ba with one foot. He didn't dare to speak, Da Tou had already warned him. Li Hong was not there, and the few people were all listening to Da Tou.

  Wu Ba saw no one was talking, so he closed his eyes and thought to himself, slowly falling asleep on the ground.

  He was suddenly awakened by some noise. Wu Ba abruptly lifted his head, seeing people shouting and horses neighing in the valley, the low and long cow horn sound disturbing the entire mountain forest. Many figures appeared at the bottom of the valley forest, rushing towards him quickly. It must be that Li Hong had been discovered.

  Four men quickly grasped the rope, ready to pull Li Hong up at any moment. At this time, Da Tou felt a sudden shake on the rope in his hand and hurriedly exerted force to pull upwards. He knew that Li Hong was already using the rope to climb up with all his might. He hastily gave a signal to the three people behind him. Then the four of them together exerted their strength, running forward with all their might, pulling Li Hong to run rapidly along the mountain wall like a rickshaw.

  Li Hong's entire body was covered in blood, even his face, and his disheveled hair had turned red. His armor was gone, and his clothes were torn into shreds, probably from being scratched by branches and shrubs.

  He yelled loudly at the four hands, "Quickly, quickly, quickly..." while sprinting rapidly, as if there was a ghost behind him. The four people thought the pursuing soldiers were right behind them and ran with all their might, faster than rabbits.

  After running for a while, Xiao Lan couldn't go on. He panted heavily and looked back to find that it was quiet behind him with no pursuers in sight. So he slowed down and called out panting: "There's no one behind..."

  The three men in front heard it and immediately turned their heads back, indeed there were no pursuing soldiers, nor even a bird's cry.

  Li Hong ran and ran, but felt something was off. Why wasn't there any panting sound behind him? He turned his head to look, and almost choked on his breath. The four of them were standing behind him, not only not running, but also sitting on the ground panting heavily. Li Hong immediately turned back around. Wu Ba panted and said: "Take... take a break... there's no one behind us..."

  Li Hongqi was so angry that he kicked him hard: "Run quickly. The Wuman people will ride their horses to the riverbank in just over half a time. We have to run twenty miles of mountain road in half a time, do you know? Quick... if we slow down, we'll be killed by the river."

  Several people almost went mad. If the war horses placed by the river were robbed by the Wuhuan people, it would be better to commit suicide. Without horses, where can we escape?

  A few people were like being pumped up with air, suddenly becoming spirited and vigorous, one by one lowering their heads and dashing off in a flurry.

  Xiao Dao saw Li Hong and his men running over in disarray from a distance, and immediately ordered the thirteen soldiers hiding nearby to retreat at once.

  "Heizi, how's it going?" Xiaodao asked as he walked up.

  "Hurry... run... the Wuman people... are blocking us by the river... Let's go, hurry and run." Li Hong's feet didn't stop, he ran while panting and speaking.

  Xiao Dao was startled, and judging from Li Hong's appearance, he knew that he must have been discovered by the enemy and had to kill his way out. Xiao Dao immediately put his index finger in his mouth and whistled to the others. Everyone immediately took off running.

  "How many enemies are there in the valley?" Xiaodao asked loudly as he chased after Li Hong.

  "They are all here, the Xianbei people are also here. Tomorrow, tomorrow we will launch an attack."

  Xiao Dao's face turned extremely ugly, "Are there still Xianbei people?"

  Li Hong also ignored him and ran desperately with his head down.

  Just as they ran over the last hill, they saw a large group of Wuhuan cavalry galloping from afar, estimated to be over a hundred riders.

  The soldiers didn't need to be urged on by the short knife, they had already pushed their speed to the limit. It just so happened that they were going downhill, and their speed was exceptionally fast. Nineteen people rolled and crawled onto the horses, immediately joining the two soldiers who had been waiting anxiously, and galloped away in a cloud of dust.

  The cavalry of Wu Ma Ren was about a mile away from them, pursuing closely.

  Ran thirty miles in one breath, the pursuing soldiers still followed closely behind, with no intention of giving up at all.

  Li Hong galloped his horse while loudly saying to Xiao Dao: "Shi Chang, if we keep running like this, in another twenty li the war horses will collapse. It's better to leave someone behind to block them. At least one person can escape and send a message back, rather than being completely wiped out."

  Xiao Dao nodded and shouted loudly to Xiao Lan, who was running nearby: "We'll stay behind to hold them off. You take the three horses and hurry back to Lulong Pass. Tell the adults that the Wuhuan people and the Xianbei people have joined forces, and 8,000 troops will attack Lulong Pass tomorrow."

  Xiao Lan's expression was tense as he nodded slightly.

  Li Hong was deeply moved. Staying behind to hold off the enemy would mean certain death. Among these twenty soldiers, Xiao Lan was the youngest, only sixteen years old. Li Hong felt that it was worth dying for a superior like Xiao Dao who made such arrangements.

  The little knife suddenly looked fierce and shouted at Xiaolan: "Say it again!"

  Xiao Lan was startled and instinctively shouted: "The 80,000-strong army will attack Lulong Pass tomorrow."

  Xiao Dao nodded in satisfaction and exchanged a glance with Li Hong. The two of them simultaneously urged their horses to overtake Xiao Lan, one on the left and one on the right, and handed the reins over to him.

  The little knife took out a small cow horn from his bosom and blew the prepared blocking sound. The vanguard of the Great Han border army also learned to use the cow horn sound for liaison in the battle with the Hu tribe. It was convenient, and secondly, it was quick to get in touch. The horses' speed immediately slowed down. Xiaodao and Li Hong exchanged a gesture, and the two almost simultaneously jumped off their horses.

  Xiao Lan rode off on horseback with three others.