Chapter 62: Three-Way Division Beneath the Walls

The Taihang bandits could certainly not occupy the county seat for long, but this kind of deal was not measured by the city itself, but rather by the prestige of capturing territory...

Bandits had their prestige, too.

Zuo Hu needed this prestige; his occupation of Beixincheng had made him the temporary leader of the Taihang Mountain alliance.

And Zhuo County could make him the undisputed supreme chieftain of the entire Taihang range.

Besides, Liu Bei was a very generous merchant.

"...There are hundreds of millions of cash stored in the private courtyard of Zhuo Commandery Administrator Liu Wei right now..."

After falling silent for a moment, Liu Bei's tone softened: "But I cannot plunder it, after all, I am no bandit... I need the stout-hearted men of Taihang to breach the Administrator's fortified manor."

"There is truly hundreds of millions of cash?!"

Zuo Hu's breathing turned heavy.

"Indeed. This year's taxes in Zhuo Commandery have all been converted into cash, and they are all kept within his fortified manor... Every prominent family in the commandery knows of this, and you should have heard rumors of it as well."

Liu Bei turned his head and pointed toward the direction of the residential hamlet of the Lu family: "There is a commemorative archway over there, recording the grain they donated. You can calculate the conversion yourself and know... The Lu family alone sent tens of millions of cash to the Administrator! There are dozens of powerful clans within the commandery, and every single one has an archway for all to see."

"That means... as long as we plunder the Administrator's manor, it is equivalent to acquiring all the taxes of Zhuo Commandery for this year?!"

Zuo Hu's spirit was now roused to the utmost: "Brother Big Ears, how do you wish to conduct this business?"

"I only want thirty percent."

Liu Bei nodded, staring straight into Zuo Hu's eyes: "I will help you create the opportunity and let you breach the Administrator's manor... letting *you* do it, do you understand?"

"When the deed is done, give me thirty percent. Once I receive the money, I will cede Zhuo County to you. This was what you intended to do anyway; my proposition is profitable enough, isn't it?"

He was helping Zuo Hu alone, not the entire Taihang Mountain...

The fortified manor held an entire year's worth of taxes. Breaching it would provide enough supplies for the people within the Taihang Mountains for a year or two, eliminating the need to raid anyone else.

Moreover, it was merely a fortified manor, not a heavily fortified major city like Zhuo County...

For a mere thirty percent, he could purchase Zhuo County in return.

Of course, taking the money without buying the city was also an option... but the consequence of losing one's credibility was having no retreat, which required careful weighing.

"Hiss... Brother Big Ears is truly righteous!"

Zuo Hu pondered for a while and asked about the plan: "How are we to attack the Administrator's fortified manor?"

"There are siege engines inside Zhuo County, as well as many large wagons... With these, do you still need to ask me how to attack?"

Liu Bei chuckled: "I know you may not completely trust me either. You can simply take your men to assault the manor yourself. I will provide you with the equipment, clear the surrounding area, help you fend off pursuing troops, and ensure no one disturbs your work... How is that? Am I fair enough?"

"Very well, then... let it be done! Rest assured, Brother Big Ears, I am a man of my word. No matter how much money is in the Administrator's manor, I will use at least thirty percent of it to buy Zhuo County!"

Zuo Hu also felt this was indeed the best mode of cooperation.

Without the support of Zhuo County, it would be extremely difficult to rapidly breach the Administrator's fortified manor, and even if it were breached, it would be hard to haul away the spoils.

Hundreds of millions of cash required thousands of flatbed carts to transport, which also necessitated support from Zhuo County.

If he could directly obtain siege equipment and vehicles, along with someone to clear the surrounding areas and secure his retreat, it would be far more useful than having a large army of several thousand men. After all, the Taihang Mountains did not lack manpower; what they lacked was time and equipment.

This was a mutually beneficial cooperation.

Things that were originally hard to obtain might now be easily acquired, and there would even be someone to block any pursuers.

"Zuo Hu, you can put up a show of attacking the city in Zhuo County to seize the equipment... but you do not have much time. In a few days, Commander Zou's troops will garrison Zhuo County, and by then you will no longer be able to buy the city. You should understand my meaning."

Liu Bei continued to lay out the details.

Zuo Hu thought for a moment, looking at Liu Bei: "What if by then I have not breached the manor... or if I do not bring the money to buy Zhuo County... what will happen?"

"Then you might not be able to return to the Taihang Mountains. The moment Commander Zou's banners enter the city, I will lead my troops to suppress the bandits."

Liu Bei removed his bamboo hat and tossed it back to Zuo Hu: "I could capture Beixincheng once, and I can capture it a second time. I can ally with you, and I can just as easily ally with others... Decide for yourself."

...

Selling the city?

Of course he was not doing it to sell the city.

Liu Bei did not care whether Zuo Hu could breach Liu Wei's fortified manor or not. His 'sale' of Zhuo County was designed to prevent Zuo Hu from attacking Zhuo County—why bother attacking when you could 'buy' it? And once you 'bought' it and entered the city, wouldn't it be even better to turn on him and seize it by force, just like at Beixincheng...

Yet Zhuo County was not Beixincheng, and Liu Bei was no Nine-Span.

Liu Bei had never intended to let the Taihang bandits enter Zhuo County in the first place.

He merely needed to make it impossible for Gongsun Zan to enter Zhuo County, and that would be enough.

For the Taihang bandits to concentrate all their strength on attacking Liu Wei's manor would lead to only one outcome.

—It would force Gongsun Zan to fight for his life.

Gongsun Zan's military authority derived from Liu Wei, and the moment Zhuo County was occupied by 'bandits', his official position was effectively lost.

If he wished to avoid a capital offense, he had to ensure that Liu Wei suffered no losses.

Furthermore, even if Gongsun Zan fought to the death, claimed countless enemy heads, and reaped immense military merits, it could never appease the anger of Liu Wei over the loss of his wealth.

After all, the root cause of all this was Gongsun Zan's 'pursuit of advancement'.

Yet Liu Bei had not mentioned Gongsun Zan to Zuo Hu at all...

Because if he had directly spoken of dealing with Gongsun Zan, it would have felt entirely different from "getting hold of a hundred million cash."

Although in reality, if Zuo Hu wanted to breach Liu Wei's manor, he first had to deal with Gongsun Zan, different objectives led to different resolutions and distinct courses of action.

With the goal of securing enough wealth to sustain all the mountain dwellers of Taihang, ensuring everyone could survive, and leaping at once to become the true supreme chieftain of the Taihang Mountains, once that determination was set, even if a mountain of knives and a sea of fire lay ahead, they would charge right through!

After all, the objective was clear, the method of operation was definite, the benefits were known, and there were no lingering doubts...

Unlike ordinary raids on other manors where they had no idea how much loot they would reap afterward—meaning they would fight if it was easy, and drop it if it was hard.

Taihang bandits with a clear objective could be terrifyingly fanatical.

Two days later, Gongsun Zan faced a major crisis.

He had no siege engines in his possession, not even an axe; wishing to attack Zhuo County was a case of the spirit being willing, but the flesh being weak.

Moreover, trying to muster men for help from the prominent local families in time was already impossible.

Because the massive horde of Taihang bandits had already arrived before him.

Gongsun Zan feared that the bandits outside the city would enter, and he also feared being caught in a pincer attack. Seeing the vast multitude of Taihang bandits approaching, he had no choice but to lead his troops out to charge the enemy in the open fields, attempting to scatter the main body of the bandits.

Normally, the Taihang bandits would retreat when encountering a disciplined, regular army; they generally avoided frontal clashes with formidable fighting forces.

Yet this time, the Taihang bandits broke with routine, gathering into a massive army to stubbornly stand their ground against Gongsun Zan.

They even gradually formed a counter-encirclement, as if intent on trapping Gongsun Zan.

The number of Taihang bandits was overwhelming... blotting out the sky and earth, numbering over ten thousand.

Once Gongsun Zan led his forces out to charge, he could no longer fall back to a defensive posture; he had to keep charging and could not stop, for stopping meant sinking into a human sea.

Yet the bandits seemed to nurse a deep grudge against him, relentlessly pursuing his banner to surround and slaughter him, refusing to retreat even amidst heavy casualties.

The Taihang bandits' tactics were simple and brutal: encirclement, encirclement, and more encirclement.

This mad-dog style of combat was extremely effective when outnumbering the enemy, and their goal was not to inflict casualties, but to intercept.

Gongsun Zan's tactics were equally simple and brutal: assault, assault, and more assault—if he could not break through, he would be surrounded.

The two sides fought from noon until evening, locked in a fierce and inextricable battle.

Gongsun Zan's troops were few in number, but their combat effectiveness was astonishingly high—especially the two hundred elite cavalry he personally led, which kicked up a storm of blood and gore with every charge.

Gongsun Zan himself wielded a double-bladed spear, trampling through the enemy ranks with not a single foe able to withstand him for even a single exchange; truly fierce and ruthless beyond measure.

In truth, the tactical situation on the battlefield remained undecided; the casualties among the Taihang bandits were several times that of Gongsun Zan's forces.

Yet the number of Taihang bandits was also several times greater. As the saying went, an army of ants could bite an elephant to death. Even though Gongsun Zan was clad in scaled armor, he still sustained several wounds.

Furthermore... his cavalry could no longer hold out.

It was not the men who were failing, but the horses.

After charging through the entire afternoon, every single warhorse was utterly exhausted and rendered unusable.

And in infantry combat, without forming a tight battle array, one could not cope with an enemy several times their own size.

Gongsun Zan was forced to lead his men in retreat, falling back once more to the Ten-Li Pavilion and deploying a defense utilizing the travelers' lodging.

At this point, the Taihang bandits split into two forces.

One force, numbering at least five or six thousand, tightly surrounded the Ten-Li Pavilion west of the city.

The other force, numbering several thousand, attempted to seize the city under the cover of night.

However, the city-seized bandits lacked any proper siege equipment and were beaten back by logs and other objects hurled from the city walls. These logs, including rolling logs and flatbed carts, were implements meant only for fortified manors and were completely ineffective against towering city walls.

Subsequently, this faction of city-assaulting Taihang bandits headed toward Administrator Liu's estate, located twenty li east of the city.

There were massive hordes of bandits to both the east and west of the city, while the county seat itself remained utterly peaceful, devoid even of petty thieves...