The vanguard of the Beiman army, ninety thousand strong, surged like a bursting dam into the Hulukou Pass, where the watchtowers and fortresses were like insignificant pebbles on a shallow shore, instantly swallowed by the tide.
At the northernmost fortress of Fengqi, together with six beacon towers, one hundred and ninety-seven soldiers of Youzhou, having exhausted their last arrows, perished in battle.
Qingfeng Fort was breached; three hundred and sixty-two men, every one of them drawing their blades to the end, died in combat.
Baima Fort was taken; two hundred and thirteen men, not a corner of the fortress left without smoke rising, all died fighting.
At the heart of the northern fortress cluster of Hulukou, Zaoma Fort lay strewn with corpses. The Beiman cavalry, furious at the heavy losses, finished off the fallen with slashes to their backs, yet not a single man died fleeing—every wound was on the front of their bodies!
Eighteen smaller forts surrounded Zaoma, and except for the southernmost Jiming Fort at the end, all were captured by the Beiman forces.
Not a single man surrendered.
Unlike most forts built in valleys, Jiming Fort stood atop a steep cliff on a low hill. Countless Beiman cavalry galloped past the foot of the hill on both sides, whistling like wind. Perhaps eager to advance swiftly toward Wogong City, they ignored this isolated and seemingly insignificant outpost.
Inside the fort, the commanding officer was not even a full commander but merely a deputy, a minor official. He gathered all two hundred and thirty soldiers. All could clearly hear the thunderous sound of Beiman hooves at the foot of the hill, and the wild, shrieking battle cries of the northern barbarians.
Deputy Commander Tang Yanchao of Jiming was a tall, middle-aged man, a typical grizzled border veteran. Banned from drinking in the army, he had repeatedly been demoted for drunken misconduct. Despite his experience, he remained a deputy at Jiming. Whenever he drank, Tang Yanchao would boast to his much younger subordinates about how he had once served as a personal guard to General Wei Tieshan, the former cavalry commander, and how he had once cut a swath through the Beiman ranks. At first, the young soldiers listened with awe, but year after year, the same stories grew tiresome. Soon, when Tang drunkenly bragged, many would shake their heads, pull faces, and if Tang hadn’t passed out drunk, upon seeing these little bastards mimicking his tone behind his back, he wouldn’t get too angry—just curse them as disrespectful little brats.
Even when officers from Youzhou came to inspect the fort, Tang rarely bothered to wear his armor properly. But today, for the first time, he was dressed with meticulous precision, even shaving off his usual unkempt beard, making him almost unrecognizable. Normally, some bold young soldiers would approach him with grins, teasing, “Deputy, you look mighty fine today! When are you finally going to find a wife?” But now, most of the men were too solemn to even smile. The few older men in the fort stood beside Tang, silently checking armor and crossbows.
Tang swept his gaze across the crowd and said calmly, “Those under twenty, and those who are the only sons of their families, stay where you are! Everyone else, step forward!”
Excluding Tang and the seven men on either side, two hundred and twenty-one soldiers stood before him. At a glance, most of them stepped forward.
Tang suddenly pointed at a young, baby-faced soldier and laughed, “Bai Youfu! If I haven’t forgotten, you’re only eighteen, and you look like you’re not even fifteen! Get back in line!”
Look at that—Deputy Tang had barely managed to sound like a proper “commander” with a few words before slipping back into his old habits, calling himself “this old man” again. No wonder he’d remained a deputy all these years.
Bai Youfu’s face flushed red as he shouted, “My father said that eating the army’s rations and fighting is only natural, so going into battle is also my duty!”
Tang, hand resting on the new Beiliang saber at his waist, chuckled, “Then didn’t your mother secretly tell you not to fight too hard?”
Bai’s face turned even more embarrassed as he muttered, “Actually, she did.”
Laughter rippled through the crowd.
Tang raised his hand, and silence returned.
This deputy, whose name might not even reach the ears of Youzhou’s governor, spoke gravely, “General Yan previously ordered us to hold our positions in the Hulukou forts and not to engage the enemy!”
He paused. “So this time, going out to fight the barbarians is my own disobedience of orders. Those who stay in line will remain in the fort. Those who stepped forward may also choose not to descend the hill. Yes, once you go down, you may never come back. No need to hide that truth—none of you are fools! I’ve lived over forty years, fought over forty battles, more than one a year. All I haven’t done is find a wife. That’s all I have to say. You young ones, not even twenty yet, still have many years ahead. Stay alive!”
Tang pointed northward, his voice fierce. “Me not becoming a full commander, not rising to high rank—no shame in that! But Li Jing, Hu Lin, Liu Zhiyuan, and the others in the northern forts certainly died fighting. If I hide and survive, I can’t bear that shame! Even if I could, Jiming Fort cannot!”
Tang roared, “Those who stepped forward—follow me! Once we’re down there, with no military law to bind us, Tang Yanchao will drink heartily with all my brothers!”
That day, one hundred and forty-eight men, including Deputy Commander Tang Yanchao, were the first to fall at the foot of the hill outside Jiming Fort.
After them, the remaining eighty soldiers, all under twenty, perished.
Among them, Bai Youfu was pierced through the neck by a Beiman cavalryman charging at full speed.
His only thought before death was that it would have been better to die in the lands of Beiman.
Not long after, a stern old general with white hair halted his horse at the foot of the hill. Dismounting, he looked upon the bloody battlefield, where the corpses were divided into two groups. He calmly asked the blood-stained general beside him, “What are our losses?”
The general wiped his face fiercely. “The archers from Youzhou’s forts were sharp, and every man fought to the death. We’ve already lost over four thousand, with even more wounded.”
It was Yang Yuanzan, the Eastern Front commander, who sighed heavily, his face grim. They hadn’t even reached Wogong City, the first of the three cities in Hulukou, nor had they faced Yan Wenlan’s elite infantry yet.
Yang Yuanzan gazed at the Jiming Fort atop the hill, now certainly empty, and muttered to himself, “This battle cannot be won.”
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