Hot flashes

When Huo Yi's military flag appeared at the foot of Eagle's Beak Cliff, it had been snowing for three days straight in the northern border region.

Xiao Jue stood on the makeshift observation platform at the top of the cliff, his black cloak billowing in the cold wind.

He held a monocular copper telescope in his hand—a rare item that Zhou Heng had drawn from memory and that had been repeatedly tested and improved by craftsmen in the army.

Through the lens, he could clearly see the black line winding its way from ten miles away.

"The vanguard numbers about three thousand, cavalry eight hundred, infantry over two thousand, and supply wagons twenty." Xiao Jue's voice was calm and even. "General Huo's military strategy is indeed as steady as ever."

Zhou Heng stood slightly behind him, wrapped in a thick fur robe, yet still felt the biting cold.

He took the binoculars from Xiao Jue and looked in them, imitating him.

This was the first time he had ever faced such a massive army from the era of cold weapons so directly. The chilling atmosphere was so palpable that even from a distance, it made it hard to breathe.

At the very front of the procession, a faded banner bearing the character "霍" (Huo) stood stubbornly upright in the wind and snow.

Beneath the banner, a white-haired veteran sat upright on his horse, his posture as straight as a pine tree. Even though his face was not clearly visible, one could feel the majesty that had been tempered by countless battles.

"He knew that Eagle's Beak Cliff was easy to defend but difficult to attack, so why did he still come head-on?" Zhou Heng asked, putting down his binoculars.

A faint, almost appreciative smile appeared on Xiao Jue's lips: "He is showing strength, but also testing the waters. Huo Yi knows that our army has just pacified the northern border and the people's hearts are not yet won over. He wants to force us to hastily engage in battle with a righteous army, or retreat and show weakness, in order to shake the minds of those who are watching."

He turned and walked down from the watchtower, his iron boots crunching on the snow. "Order: proceed as planned. Keep the flags on the cliff in place, and continue the patrols as usual."

The First and Third Battalions quietly descended the mountain via a secret passage on the west side, moving towards Black Wind Valley to cut off their supply lines, but were not allowed to engage in battle; they were merely a feint. The Second and Fourth Battalions reinforced the defense of the right flank cliffs, preparing ample logs and rocks.

As orders were passed down, the entire camp began to operate like a sophisticated machine, quietly and efficiently.

Zhou Heng followed behind him, understanding the situation perfectly. This was both psychological warfare and maneuver warfare.

Xiao Jue did not intend to engage in a head-on battle with Huo Yi at Eagle Beak Cliff. He wanted to use the terrain and intelligence advantages to maneuver, exhaust, and confuse his opponent.

"Will General Huo fall for the trap?" Zhou Heng asked.

"He won't completely believe it, but he can't completely disbelieve it either." Xiao Jue stepped into the central command tent, the charcoal fire dispelling the chill from his body. "The supply lines are the lifeblood of an army. He's been cautious all his life, so he'll definitely divide his forces to investigate and protect them. What I want is for him to divert that part of his strength, making his already meager forces even more stretched."

---

The atmosphere inside Huo Yi's central command tent was heavy.

The charcoal brazier burned brightly, yet it couldn't dispel the chill in the old general's eyes. Before him lay a slightly worn map, its surface outlined in vermilion ink, depicting the terrain near Eagle's Beak Cliff.

"Xiao Ni has deployed his forces tightly on the cliff, with banners waving and scouts reporting that the patrol teams are handing over duties in an orderly fashion, showing no signs of panic," Vice General Wang Hui said in a deep voice. "General, should we proceed as planned, feigning an attack from the front while the main force detours along the eastern path?"

Huo Yi didn't answer immediately. He stretched out his calloused fingers and stroked the three characters "Black Wind Valley" on the map. That was a key location leading to the back of Eagle Beak Cliff and connecting his supply lines.

"It's too quiet." Huo Yi spoke slowly, his voice hoarse yet carrying the quality of metal and stone, "Xiao Yuan's son... if he only had the ability to defend dangerous places to the death, he wouldn't have made it this far."

Wang Hui, dispatch three times the number of scouts, focusing on reconnaissance of Black Wind Valley and Falling Horse Ravine. Xiao Jue has been skilled in surprise attacks since his youth; we must be wary.

"Yes!" Wang Hui accepted the order, but hesitated for a moment. "General, the imperial court is urging us urgently, questioning why we have delayed launching an attack and instead linger here..."

Huo Yi slightly raised his eyelids, his gaze sharp as lightning: "Is it me who is fighting, or those gentlemen sitting in the warm pavilions of Nandu? Tell them that the snow and wind in the north are blocking the roads, making it difficult for the army to advance. They need to proceed cautiously and steadily."

A hint of resentment flashed across Wang Hui's face. He bowed his head in agreement, turned, and left the tent.

Huo Yi was the only one left in the tent. He walked to the edge of the tent, lifted a corner, and looked at Eagle Beak Cliff in the distance, which resembled a crouching beast in the twilight. The wind and snow lashed against his weathered face.

"Brother Xiao Yuan," he murmured to himself, as if speaking to an old friend, "your son has indeed become quite something. This posture of holding back and using stillness to control movement is somewhat reminiscent of your composure back then. It's just a pity... our paths are different."

He seemed to see again many years ago, in that same snowy winter, Xiao Yuan's back as he spent all his wealth to buy winter clothes for his soldiers, and his open yet weary eyes as he patted him on the shoulder before returning to the capital and said, "Brother Huo, you still need to take care of things in the court."

Huo Yi clenched his fists, his knuckles turning white.

"Report—!" The scout's urgent voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Enemy activity detected in the direction of Black Wind Valley! The number of troops is unknown, but the rising dust suggests an ambush!"

Huo Yi's eyes flashed with a sharp light: "As expected. Order the vanguard battalion to be on alert to prevent the enemy troops on the cliff from taking advantage of the situation to charge. Deploy 1,000 elite cavalry and 2,000 infantry, led by Wang Hui, to quickly head towards Black Wind Valley to guard against enemy scouts, but do not rashly venture into the valley. The rest of the troops should reinforce their camps and set up more antler traps to guard against night attacks."

His response was undeniably thorough. It both countered Xiao Jue's potential attempt to cut off the supply lines and firmly defended the foundation of the main camp.

However, the scouts he sent out failed to discover that the "smoke and dust" in Black Wind Valley was merely an illusion created by Xiao Jue's men running back and forth in the distance, dragging tree branches.

The true elite of the First and Third Battalions had already taken advantage of the darkness and their familiarity with the terrain to quietly maneuver to a more distant location. Their target was not the supply route, but the water source behind Huo Yi's army—a mountain stream called "Qingxi".

Meanwhile, on Eagle Beak Cliff, Xiao Jue received the intelligence compiled by Zhou Heng.

"General Huo has indeed divided his forces at Black Wind Valley." Zhou Heng pointed to the changing black flag representing Huo Yi's army on the sand table, "about three thousand men. The garrison at his main camp has been further weakened. However, the camp is fortified and the defenses are tight, so a direct attack would still result in heavy losses."

Xiao Jue's gaze fell on the location of "Qingxi": "The time is almost up. Send a message to the First and Third Battalions, to act at midnight. There's no need to destroy the stream, just drop these 'medicine packets' upstream." He pointed to several packages wrapped in oil paper on the table, emitting a faint odor.

This was a mixture of herbs prepared by the military doctor at Zhou Heng's suggestion. Large doses of this mixture would cause diarrhea, but it was usually not fatal.

"Huo Yi is strict in his military discipline, and his drinking water is strictly controlled. However, this substance is colorless and odorless when it comes into the water, so it is difficult to detect at first. What I want is not to kill, but to make more than half of their men weak in the legs and lose their morale in the next two or three days."

Xiao Jue calmly gave instructions: "Second and Fourth Battalions, prepare overnight. At dawn tomorrow, if you see any unusual movements from the enemy, harass them from a distance with crossbows and rolling stones to tire and harass them, but do not go down the mountain to engage in battle."

"You're trying to wear him down," Zhou Heng said softly. This tactic, which doesn't aim for a direct victory but instead uses every means to weaken, exhaust, and demoralize the enemy, is extremely ruthless and highly effective.

"He is Huo Yi. Even if I win in a head-on confrontation, it will be a Pyrrhic victory, which is not what I want." Xiao Jue looked at the sand table. "What I want is to make him back down with minimal cost, or... force him to reveal a weakness."

Midnight, upstream of the Qingxi River, at Huo Yijun's water source. The guards rubbed their hands together, muttering complaints about the bitter cold and this damned job.

Unbeknownst to them, in the dark woods upstream, several ghostly figures tossed several oil-paper packages into the stream, whereupon they vanished without a trace.

Meanwhile, in the luxurious warm pavilion of the Southern Capital, the Vice Minister of War was listening to his subordinates' report, casually fiddling with an abacus: "General Huo reported that 50,000 troops are setting out. The provisions, equipment, and pensions are all allocated according to the quota of 50,000 men..."

Although the actual amount received may not be that much, the accounts still need to look good.

"It's bitterly cold up north, so it's only right that the soldiers take on more vacancies." He smiled, picked up his pen, and signed his name on a document. "Send another memorial urging the battle, this time with a stern tone. The faster the battle goes, the better our year-end performance reviews will look, won't they?"

Outside the window, the melodious sounds of string and wind instruments filled the air, and graceful dancers moved about. The cold winds and bloodshed of the North seemed to be separated from this gentle and wealthy land by an insurmountable barrier.