The Warring States, Books 1-3

by Greg Strandberg

  Five years, Wu thought as he looked over at Dao riding in the chariot next to them, the Duke’s long queue of black hair blowing behind him. Dao had already ruled for as long as his father had before him, but where he and his own father had failed, Dao had succeeded. Was succeeding, Wu immediately corrected himself. While it was true that the power of both the nobility and the bureaucracy had been greatly curtailed, both groups had only been supplanted for a few years and each hungered to regain their former positions. Any misstep, however slight, could create the opening that both needed to claw their way back to the top. And from there they’d once again dwarf the power of the throne.

  Wu had tried to ensure such a course would never happen; his whole basis for moving most of the nobles to the Chu borders was because of that. Still, dismissing many of the government officials from the swollen bureaucracy alone just wouldn’t be enough. Both groups needed a clear show of force before they’d realize that power no longer resided with them, but with the Duke, where it belonged. A victory against Yue would create that, while a defeat would wipe away all that had been accomplished.

  Wu shook his head and tried to dismiss the thoughts. It would not do to dwell on what might happen. He was once again riding to war, something that he never thought he would do again, and his thoughts should be there, not back in Ying. Wu nodded to himself and stared straight ahead at the road rushing by, his thoughts once again turning toward war.

  ELEVEN

  The long column of men came to a stop a few hours before dusk on a bend in the Han River. The river was a tributary of the Jiang River, and they would follow it for most of the next day until they came to the Jiang. From there they’d turn northeast and after another day, possibly two, they would be on the outskirts of the Yue capital of Shouchun.

  Min was still pulling the chariot to a stop when Wu jumped off, and almost fell over. His legs were numb from the jarring of the vehicle from the road all day, and it took him a few moments to loosen them up. He stared back down the road as he stretched and was amazed by the sight. Clouds of dust billowed into the air behind them from the hundreds of chariots coming up the road. They grew larger as they joined the clouds formed by the tens of thousands of soldiers walking further behind them, their numbers stretching for miles and miles. It would be fully dark before the last straggled into camp along the river, which by that time would be alight with countless fires and the hum of excited voices.

  The lower-ranking officers in the lead chariots immediately staked out a secluded spot on the river atop a small bluff and began erecting the Duke’s large tent that would serve as the headquarters and command center of the army. Wu headed to the river to wash the dust from his hands and face. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d done that. But he could remember one time.

  He’d been riding back north to Wei following the disturbances along the Chu border. He was leading his wing of the army over an eastern mountain pass while Wu Wei, Marquis Wen’s son, was leading his wing west. The hostilities between the two villages had easily been suppressed and order restored. There was really no need for the armies of both nations to come at all, except that neither had had much to do at the time.

  It had been the day after the dinner with the Chu commanders, and it had been long. It started early with the men breaking camp and didn’t end until it was nearly dark and the men were nearing the mountain passes. Wu had ridden ahead to scout the next day’s march when he spotted a small stream and steered toward it. He got off his horse and knelt down to the water and washed the dust from his face, just as he was doing now.

  Suddenly, he heard the sounds of a rider approaching from the thicket beyond the stream’s other side. He got up quickly, not knowing if it was friend or foe approaching. He was just about to draw his sword when he saw Wu Wei burst through the trees and toward the stream’s bank.

  The two men eyed each other suspiciously for a moment before Wu Wei broke into a smile and jumped from his horse.

  “I didn’t think I’d find you here,” the heir to the throne of Wei said casually. He bent down to the stream’s edge and cupped his hands to take a drink. He peered up at the upstart from the State of Qi and narrowed his eyes. “How is she?”

  The comment caught Wu off-guard. “She’s fine, safe back in the capital.”

  “How nice that must be for you, Wu, to come out on top like that.”

  “Meilin loved me, Wu, not you. Besides, your father never would have approved, didn’t in fact. I was amazed to see he let you head up another army. What’s it been, more than a year now since you were recalled?”

  Wu could remember the incident like it was yesterday, even sitting on the edge of the Han River while marching to war against the State of Yue.

  He and Wu Wei had served together when both had been slowly rising through the ranks of the Wei Army. It wasn’t unusual for the heir to the throne to serve alongside the common soldiers; in fact, it was encouraged, and there had been a long tradition of it going back over the centuries. While most of the army was composed of men from the State of Wei, not all were. A great deal of the soldiers in all of the armies of the Seven States hailed from different states than those they served.

  Wu Qi had been such a soldier. His name was enough to cause him problems back home at the time. The House of Tian was beginning its rise in the State of Qi, and House Jian, which Wu would have fought for, was losing badly at the time. He was lucky to get out with his head.

  He had come to the State of Wei and it quickly become apparent that the young soldier from Qi was quite capable. He rose quickly through the ranks, eventually coming to serve alongside Wu Wei in a command position. Both men had had their units sent north against the small state of Cao, and it was there that the troubles between them began.

  Both Wu Wei and Wu Qi were men of strong personalities and both sought to outdo the other, pressing their units hard in the fighting, each being rewarded handsomely for their efforts in both victories and recognition. When the state of Cao finally fell and their general met with the defeated duke, both Wu Wei and Wu Qi had been allowed to tag along. It was at that meeting that both men first saw the duke’s daughter, and each had been immediately swept under her spell.

  She had had hair of auburn and eyes that seemed to penetrate to the depths of their souls. Both men had sought to console her after her father was put to death, and the professional rivalry that had existed between them turned more personal as they sought her favors. Both knew that she was turning the one against the other, but they didn’t care. The arguments that had developed between them in the past no longer took place with just words, but with fists. They would have eventually included swords if their general hadn’t learned of their quarrels and sent Wu Wei back to Anyi.

  “It’s been one year, two months, and six days,” Wu Wei had said on the bank of the stream that day. “And each of those days I was thinking of you and the humiliation you caused me.”

  Wu Qi shook his head. “Wu, Meilin and I are married now. In fact, she’s expecting our first child, a boy we hope.”

  “Yes, I know,” Wu replied with a smile. “I’ve known since the day she arrived.”

  “Then why-”

  Wu stopped himself. What game was the heir to Wei playing?

  Wu Wei was already walking back to his horse. “And I’ve had many times to visit her since the day she’s arrived. After all, Wu, you’ve been out of the city a lot lately. I wonder who’s been writing your orders?”

  Wu Qi’s brows furrowed and he looked hatefully at his lord’s son. “If you’ve touched her, Wu…”

  He trailed off, leaving the threat unsaid, but surely felt. Wu just laughed as he got back on his horse and turned about.

  “I’ve done a lot more than that since before you were married.”

  Wu could still hear his laugh as he’d ridden back into the trees. The two didn’t encounter one another again on the journey back to Anyi, and Wu was thankful for it. He was still sure he’d have killed the man. I
nstead he’d rushed back home immediately upon arriving in the city. His wife was there, finally beginning to show her pregnancy. He burst in on her and leveled his accusations right away.

  “You’ve been seeing him,” Wu had said, and it still hurt him.

  Of course she denied everything, and she might well have been telling the truth; Wu still didn’t know to this day. There had never been any time to find out.

  “General,” a voice called from behind, and Wu Qi turned around.

  “General, they’re about ready to start the meeting.”

  “I’ll be there,” Wu said as he rose up and nodded to the young soldier.

  Wu made his way to the tent where the officers were already arguing.

  “We must continue on,” one officer, a man unfamiliar to Wu, was saying when Wu stepped into the tent.

  “That would be folly,” another countered. “We must have the battle on the ground of our choosing.”

  “If we continue east when the Jiang swings south then we’ll bypass them altogether,” yet another officer said. “Another day of marching should bring us past their troops, whereupon we can swing north toward the capital.”

  “The capital is now out of our reach,” Min said slowly, quieting the other three men and casting his eyes toward Wu near the doorway. “Somehow King Yi of Yue found out about our departure this morning and has sent out the entirety of his army to meet us on the road, if the message we received from our contacts in the city are to be believed.”

  “Are they?” Wu asked.

  Min nodded. “They’re reliable.”

  “How could he have known?” an officer asked.

  “He’s got spies the same as us,” another officer said. “Someone back in the capital told him.”

  “The nobles, no doubt, at least those that still remain in the city,” another chimed in and several men nodded their heads in agreement.

  “However it was learned, learned it was, and now we must take the necessary measures to meet this new development,” Min said.

  “The battle will continue, whether it’s at the gates of Shouchun or on the road to it,” Duke Dao said, drawing all eyes to him. “Perhaps it was some of the nobles back in Ying that sent word off to King Yi, perhaps it was just advance scouts that he had outside of the city.” He shrugged. “Either way it makes no difference now: the battle must take place.”

  “But where?” one of the officers asked.

  Silence reigned in the tent for a few moments as the men’s eyes shot between the Duke and Min, and even to Wu. Finally Min snapped his fingers and motioned toward a young soldier near the back of the tent.

  “Lay the maps out,” Min said as he walked toward the large table set in the middle of the tent.

  The soldier quickly jumped to action and in a moment a large map detailing the area between Shouchun and the Yangtze was before them. The soldiers all gathered around the table, watching Min step forward to stroke his neatly-trimmed beard and study the map.

  “Here,” he said, pointing to a blank spot on the map that looked to be several miles northeast of their current position. “The flat plain the stretches south of Shouchun finally comes to an end here and turns into hills. We could place our archers on the hills overlooking the plain while still affording our chariots ample room to maneuver.”

  “It’s little just over a day’s march from Ying,” one of the officers pointed out. “If we should be defeated the city will have scarce time to prepare a defense.”

  “We will not be defeated,” Duke Dao said as he cast the man a cold look.

  “It’s nearly a day’s march from Shouchun,” another man said as he looked at the map. “Even if we are victorious we’ll still have to march on the capital, which given a days time, could have put more defenders in place.”

  Min shook his head. “The reports indicate that the majority of the Yue Army has taken the field. Whatever scant forces remain in the capital will not be sufficient to hold us back.”

  “What of King Yi?” Wu asked suddenly, drawing all eyes to him. “Is he too riding at the head of his army?”

  “We don’t know that for sure, but I’d be surprised if he wasn’t,” Min answered.

  “And what will happen if he falls in the battle?” Wu pressed.

  “Then his forces will scatter, at least that’s what we hope,” Min said as he looked around at the other men. “King Yi has always been the dominant force that holds the army together. While there’s no doubt capable generals will continue the battle, once, and if, the king is slain, I’m sure that the battle will quickly turn in our favor if that eventuality should occur.”

  “Then we must quickly identify the king and remove him,” Wu said.

  “That’s easier said than done,” one of the officers said. “While he may lead one of the initial charges himself, he’ll be heavily guarded by his most capable soldiers, men that’ll be willing to die for him.”

  “Our archers then,” Duke Dao said.

  “Perhaps if we can get a few close enough by chariot, but I don’t think there’s much possibility of that either,” Min said.

  “Than what do you suggest?” the Duke asked.

  Min stroked his beard once again and leaned over the table. “There is one possibility that might work,” he said, pointing toward a small line on the map.

  The men gathered as close as they could around the table as Min started to explain, and smiles slowly spread onto their faces.

  TWELVE

  Lines of heat shimmered in the air as the sun unmercifully beat down. Wu rubbed his forehead with a small cloth that was already nearly soaked through with sweat and peered down on the plain below. General Min stood beside him, although the heat didn’t seem to affect him in the least, or if it did, he wasn’t showing it. He gazed down at the plain with a determined expression on his face that gave no sign as to his thoughts. Wu’s attention was drawn from the plain to the small path they’d climbed. He heard stones skitter and fall and a moment later one of the officers came into view.

  “The scouts we sent out have lured the Yue Army this way,” he reported when he reached the two men, sweat pouring down his face. “It shouldn’t be more than a few hours now.”

  Wu nodded to the man and the officer rushed back the way he’d come.

  “Will we be in position in time?” Wu asked when the man was gone.

  “Let’s hope so,” the general replied, not taking his gaze away from the plain below.

  “And if we’re not, then what?”

  “Then it will be a long day,” Min said as he turned to face him.

  Wu nodded and fell in beside as Min began walking back to the path that led down to the plain below. The hill they were on was one of many that overlooked the vast plain stretching out in front of them, the hills rising up on two sides as it finally came to an end after hundreds of miles. The natural boundary had marked the historic border region between the States of Wu and Yue in the times when Chu was itself under pressure from the then smaller state of Wu. Yue had incorporated the former state into its own territory when it had defeated it more than a hundred years before, but the area was still largely uninhabited. as they wound their way down the rocky trail Wu could see why. The plain beneath them allowed only the hardiest of scrub and weeds to find purchase within the dry and rocky land. Although the Jiang and the Han Rivers lay only a few hours to the southwest, they were both far enough away to seem halfway across the world. Still, water was here, and it was for that reason that Min had selected this particular area out of the many miles of hills that made up the area. A small pass wound through the hills where they curved from north to east, and a tiny river, little more than a stream in fact, flowed through before dwindling into nothing, its muddy brown waters sinking into the dry and cracked earth. None in the Army knew the name of the river, so it was simply referred to as ‘the river.’

  The river was the key to the battle, as Min had outlined back in the command tent the night before. Huddled around the
table, the officers and the Duke had listened intently without interruption for more than an hour as Min detailed what would take place the next day. The army would be split in two, with the larger force sent around the northern hills to come up around the Yue Army once it had reached the smaller force awaiting them near the river. It was a risky more. First, their forces, already outnumbered, would be put at a greater disadvantage when they were divided. There was also a strong chance that the larger force wouldn’t make the northern pass in time to march south, where it was expected to slam into the rear of the Yue Army. Scouts had been sent ahead that night to make sure that it was possible to get the chariots through, and they had returned well before dawn to say that it was. When they were pressed on how much time it would take to go north, move through the pass, and then swing back south, they became less certain. Some said that it could be done, others that it could not. In the end Min had stuck to the plan, and none had challenged his decision.

  The army had been split into two camps the night before and the larger force sent north before dawn. The smaller force, which still numbered in the thousands, continued to march east until they reached the plain a few hours before midday. Even before the sun was fully out the day promised to be hot, but as Wu and Min walked down the trail, dust rising up with each step, it seemed stifling.

  “Duke Dao is still intent on leading the initial charge?” Wu asked as they slowly descended to the camps below, their eyes on the trail ahead of them to watch for loose rocks.