Three days later, the large army of the Wan Kingdom bore down upon Shengzhou Pass. The Shengzhou garrison, ready in full battle array, were determined to hold Shengzhou Pass.

Xue Chi wanted very much to launch an attack immediately, but his men were somewhat tired after the long weary journey, so he had no choice but to give the order for the troops to make camp and take one day of rest to recharge.

At the sight of the defense of Shengzhou Pass, Xue Chi’s face turned grave.

“Father, it would seem the Great Wen is well prepared. I wonder whether Shengzhou Pass is the only place well-defended or the Youzhou garrison has done the same thing,” said Xue Yi, frowning.

On hearing this, Shan Congyi who was also in the main tent, sneered, “Our alliance with the Luohai Kingdom is top secret. If there’s such defense deployed in Youzhou Pass as well, then it would mean they’re fully aware of our alignment with the Luohai Kingdom.

Still, what difference would it make if they’ve come to know about it? Yuwen Tong is injured and lying in bed too weak to even walk. There’s no way the Great Wen could withstand a coalition offensive from two countries, no matter how resourceful their commanders are.”

Xue Chi listened quietly as Shan Congyi spoke. After pondering for a few moments, he said, “Though it’s inadvisable to take the enemy lightly, I think Your Highness’s words make sense. Jiang Ke and Jiang Xi are in Shengzhou, but in Youzhou, there’s only Shao Feng. Well-defended or not, Youzhou would fall sooner or later if the Luohai Kingdom launches an all-out attack.”

Xue Yi said indignantly, “But Mu Hengtian is such a bastard. We weighed his pocket with money, yet the army he promised is still nowhere to be seen.”

Both Xue Chi and Shan Congyi were disgruntled about it as well. The reason why they had stayed put for a long time was because they had been waiting for the Luohai Kingdom’s army to get ready. Had they taken action sooner, they might have got through Shengzhou Pass and entered the prefecture by now, and might even have marched all the way south with unstoppable momentum while Yuwen Tong was recovering.

“Sire has sent someone to the Luohai Kingdom to give Mu Hengtian a prod. It won’t be long before he sends his army south. Actually his men arriving later than scheduled has its compensations in the sense that they’re now bound to get only a tiny share of the pie at the end of the war. Simply keeping the Youzhou garrison busy to save us fighting on two fronts would be a decent fulfillment of their duty as an ally,” said Xue Chi.

If Yuwen Tong were not injured, Xue Chi would indeed be infuriated by Mu Hengtian’s behavior, but now that Yuwen Tong was wounded and unable to lead his army, Xue Chi was confident that he would be able to take all cities in northern Great Wen before Yuwen Tong recovered and took command.

Xue Yi and Shan Congyi agreed with Xue Chi as though Shengzhou Pass were already in their pocket.

Early in the morning of the third day, the Wan army launched an offensive. Their attack was savage from the very beginning, which indicated that they wanted to take Shengzhou Pass at one fell swoop.

However, the whole morning had now passed but Shengzhou Pass remained impregnable. All counter-attacks were quite effective. The fighting soon reached a stalemate. At dusk, seeing that his men still hadn’t breached the defense of Shengzhou Pass, Xue Chi finally gave the order to sound retreat, commanding the troops to return to the encampment to rest and be regrouped.

In the main tent, Xue Chi was contemplating in silence. Xue Yi was discussing something with the other generals. Shan Congyi’s face clouded over with displeasure.

Without Yuwen Tong in command, the defense of Shengzhou Pass still seemed unbreakable, which was something none of them had bargained on. Shan Congyi had a burning desire to take Shengzhou Pass, march south, storm into the capital of the Great Wen and kill Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong to get his vengeance on them, but unfortunately for him, the first day’s attack had turned out to be utterly unfruitful. The resentment and snakiness in his eyes seemed to be deepening.

Xue Chi was a veteran. Though it had been many years since he had last commanded an army, these people couldn’t hold a candle to him in terms of both battle experience and mental endurance.

“This is just the first day. It’s impracticable to take Shengzhou Pass in one day. If Shengzhou was so easy to take, the North-western Army of the Great Wen wouldn’t have enjoyed such great fame, and our cavalry would long since have flattened the Great Wen, and Yuwen Tong would never have acceded to the throne. All of you should know this very well, seeing as you’ve fought by my side for so many years. The main purpose of today’s operation is to take their measure. Now that we’ve got a rough number of the troops stationed in there, our first priority should be to design a battle plan so that we may take Shengzhou Pass as soon as possible.”

Xue Yi and the others, who were fairly anxious, cooled themselves down as they saw the composure on Xue Chi’s face. Shan Congyi was the only one still appearing sulky, but he didn’t say anything.

Xue Chi continued, “Now you may return to your respective units and pacify your men. Make sure their morale is unaffected. We’ll gather here again to formulate a battle plan tomorrow.”

Shan Congyi couldn’t help but furrow his brow at these words. “We’re not attacking tomorrow?”

Xue Chi said, “Your Highness, we’ll have to show patience if we are to get through Shengzhou Pass as soon as possible. We’ll resume the attack after a battle plan is made tomorrow. I believe we’re both familiar with the saying ‘Grinding a chopper will not delay the work of cutting firewood.'”

Looking at him with penetrating eyes, Shan Congyi smiled wryly, “I admit you know more about war than I do. Fine, let’s do it your way and stay put tomorrow. I look forward to seeing how General Xue will get us the ‘firewood’ we need.”

When he had finished speaking, Shan Congyi rose and left the main tent.

“You–!” Xue Yi was annoyed, sprung to his feet and was just about to block Shan Congyi’s path when his father stopped him.

“Sit down,” instructed Xue Chi.

Unconvinced as Xue Yi was, he had no choice but to sit back into his seat. “Father, His Majesty’s decision to allow Prince Yi to come with us serves only to bring us trouble.”

“Shut up!” railed Xue Chi. “It’s not for you to question His Majesty’s decision!”

Xue Chi’s eyes casually swept across the generals sitting in the tent before resting on his son, a warning look in them.

Xue Yi caught on to the situation. Knowing that he had said the wrong thing on this occasion, he hastened to apologize. “I was being reckless, Father. Please punish me.”

“Ten strokes. You know where to receive the punishment.”

“Yes, Father.”

All the others’ attempts to talk Xue Chi out of it were unsuccessful. Xue Yi received ten strokes of the staff. Such an unpleasant occurrence on the first day rendered Xue Chi fairly fretful. This, coupled with his craving to take Shengzhou Pass while Yuwen Tong was nursing his injury, caused him to become a little anxious, though he had always been a poised man. However, being anxious was one of the most dangerous mistakes that a commander could make during a war.

…

The next day, the Wan army didn’t attack.

Jiang Ke and Jiang Xi, both of whom had seen this coming, were totally unworried.

“Xue Chi is still as cautious as always. Come to think of it, he’s indeed an old man now. I remember that he was much bolder and more decisive when we and Sire first met him. He kicked our asses hard during that fight. We might have been incapacitated by that geriatric if Sire hadn’t been composed from start to finish and bought us some time to make our escape,” said Jiang Xi bluffly.

Jiang Ke resignedly gave him a that’s-a-long-time-ago look.

However, it was true that Xue Chi was now far more prudent than he used to be. It didn’t take a genius to see that the Wan army were standing by on this day because Xue Chi was regrouping his army and designing battle plans. Still, while his men were recharging, the Shengzhou garrison were also resting up. Officers of the North-western Army had been working as a team for years, and one day was more than enough for them to finish analyzing the battle the day before, which meant that the North-western Army would have also adjusted their mentality and changed the defense plans by the time the Wan army launched another attack.

The soldiers’ morale is the highest at the first round of battle drumbeat, halves at the second and plummets to the bottom at the third. (A quotation from Annals of Zuo) Xue Chi’s men had been deflated somewhat when they had arrived only to find the enemy well-prepared, and then, after a whole day’s fierce attack, the defense of Shengzhou Pass still seemed impenetrable, which burdened their minds further. These two setbacks, though not enough to reduce the Wan army to the losing side, had actually become a great hindrance to them, making it impossible for their morale to rise to the same level it had been at on the first day of the battle. In other words, this fight was bound to remain in a stalemate for some time.

And time was what the Shengzhou garrison needed the most.

Unsurprisingly, after a day’s rest, Xue Chi’s army launched another offensive on the city early the next morning.

Compared with the frantic savage attack of the first day, this offensive action was much more methodical. The Shengzhou garrison were indeed having a hard job to withstand the attack from the Wan army who had prepared for this war for five years. However, the Great Wen had been becoming increasingly defensive with the Wan Kingdom in the last five years, and the Shengzhou garrison had all along been making provision for the Wan army marching south to attack, so the defense of Shengzhou Pass was much stronger than it was five years ago. There was no way Xue Chi could take it after merely making some adjustments to his battle plan.

Battle cries lasted a whole day. Smell of blood filled the air outside Shengzhou Pass. The ramparts and the garrison withstood one attack after another. When night fell, the city still stood. The garrison successfully held Shengzhou once again.

The army of the Wan Kingdom had no choice but to retreat again.

This time Xue Chi was also weighed down with concern, but it was not because of the prospect of Shan Congyi picking on him, or the possibility that his army might fail to take Shengzhou Pass eventually. He was apprehensive because he had come to realize that it was very difficult to breach the defense of Shengzhou, that his army would very likely be held back outside the city walls for some time, but right now time was a luxury he and the Wan Kingdom no longer had. Once Yuwen Tong recovered from his injury and took command of the army, there was a high chance the Wan army would be stopped in the north and unable to go south even if Shengzhou Pass was taken.

…

Jiang Ke and Jiang Xi had a shrewd idea what the mood in Xue Chi’s army was like. The enemy’s attack during the day had inflicted heavy casualties on the Shengzhou garrison, so although the city was still impregnable, the two generals had leaden hearts.

Jiang Xi was watching the soldiers clearing the battlefield of the dead in orderly fashion, gripping the hilt of the saber fastened to his belt, his eyes full of anger at the Wan Kingdom.

“It won’t be long before we send them to meet their Maker,” said Jiang Ke, walking over and clapping him on the shoulder.

Jiang Xi said, “I know. When the time is ripe for us to be on the offensive, I swear I’ll kill Xue Chi and each and every single man of his, completely destroy the Wan Kingdom’s military strength, crush these greedy jackals’ bones, flatten the cavalry of the Wan Kingdom and make sure they could never straighten their backs again!”

Resentment towards the Wan Kingdom had been building inside him since the very beginning of the fighting between the two countries. The Wan monarch was disgustingly avaricious and bent on taking possession of the Great Wen’s beautiful rivers and mountains, fertile farmland and rich cities. If the Great Wen didn’t destroy their regime completely and exterminate the young and middle-aged men of the Wan Kingdom, they would sooner or later make a comeback.

“Sire has the intention to unify the three countries, which means some day the Wan Kingdom will be part of the Great Wen. When that day comes, I’ll request permission to be stationed in the Wan Kingdom, and I’ll make sure they never make trouble again,” continued Jiang Xi.

Jiang Ke gave a smile, slightly shaking his head.

Jiang Xi looked at him. “What are you smiling at? Did I say something wrong?”

Jiang Ke replied, “Sending troops there to stand guard will be necessary, but after the Wan Kingdom is annexed, maintaining a military presence there will be a measure of secondary importance. It’ll take some of those civil officials’ methods to turn Wan people into our fellow countrymen. Not all matters could be settled through violence.”

Jiang Xi’s brow corrugated in a frown. It was true that he was an army man, and those civil officials’ methods were beyond his grasp. “How do you think those civil officials would handle it then?”

Jiang Ke replied, “I’m a general, not a civil official.”

Jiang Xi didn’t believe him. He was sure that Jiang Ke knew the answer but was keeping it back from him, for Jiang Ke was much more cunning than him.