Purple River Chapter 06 Part 08 - Forest

**Chapter 06 Part 08 - Forest**

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“Ambus.h.!.+” Scout’s warning quickly turned into a scream as a handcrafted javelin pierced the soldier’s chest with pinpoint accuracy, signalling an array of javelins raining down on their position and turning that single scream into a dozen.

When under attack, the soldiers from the Central Army immediately narrowed their ranks, forming a circular defensive formation. Wielding sword with one hand and s.h.i.+eld with the other, the s.h.i.+eldbearers instinctively formed the outer circle. Hundreds of square-shaped s.h.i.+elds pushed together into a defensive wall. Archers, grouped in the center in a half kneeling position, returned the favour, unleas.h.i.+ng a barrage of arrows over the s.h.i.+eldwall and towards the depth of the forest. Javelins continued to rain in, but most simply fell short in reaching the soldiers hiding behind the s.h.i.+eldwall.

The Captain, Banner Warrior – Dukla shouted: “Fifth platoon, attack! Bring me the heads of those underhanded b.a.s.t.a.r.ds!”

Thirtyish sabre wielding soldiers roared: “Woaah!” as they charged towards the dense forest of shrubbery. Even though they were initially Cavalries and due to the inaccessible terrains in the forest they had to fight on foot, it did nothing to change their fearless style. Three soldiers fell to the incoming spears during their charge, but the rest all managed to close in on the enemy, surrounding over a dozen Beastmen in melee.

Beastmen fought back just as valiantly with their simple javelins against the sharpened sabres, completely ignoring the soldiers shouting in Beastmen’s tongue – “Surrender and be spared!” Blood, screams and death continued to stalk the muddy jungle after the rain. Neither side gave ground. A Beastman who had just lost one of his arm fought on holding the javelin in his other hand, another who had his shoulder crushed pounced on his enemy with his teeth. On the other side, a soldier with a broken leg continued to swing his sabre wildly, slas.h.i.+ng at his enemy’s feet while tumbling over in the mud.

Soon, over half of the Beastmen had either fallen or were incapacitated. Captain Dukla shouted backwards: “Make way for the archers! Finish them!”

Several rows of archers moved forward, just as they were about to notch their arrows and draw back their bows, sudden warcry sounded all around them. Hundreds of Beastmen poured through the dense forest wielding javelins and clubs alike, surrounding them and hungry for blood. Soldiers readily fell back behind their defensive formation, and another brutal battle began beyond the s.h.i.+eldwall.

Dukla realized the situation he found himself in. “It was a trap!” He shouted loudly: “Fifth platoon, fall back to the defensive position!”

Three dozen soldiers from the fifth platoon separated from the battalion tried desperately to get back, but over a hundred club-wielding Beastmen had already surrounded them, roaring. Everywhere around them, weapons clashed and no quarters were given. Several of the soldiers instantly had their heads caved in and their bodies torn apart, turning a few screams into an endless wail.

Dukla’s battalion struggled desperately trying to narrow the distance between them and those separated men, but several hundred Rebels had severed their path. Both side fought fiercely over every inch of the ground, felling either men or beast every second in a pool of blood. Even though they could already see and hear each other, they were unable to move an inch closer despite being less than thirty meter apart. It looked like the surrounded fifth platoon would get wiped out before Captain Dukla could reinforce them.

A clear whistling and a shadow flashed by, not sure how, but it broke through several layers of the encircling enemies and through to the surrounded soldiers. A not-so-tall human nimbly moved between the taller enemies with incredible speed with nothing but his bare fists, dropping a score of Beastmen left and right without so much as making a sound, no one even saw how he did it. The bulky Beastmen who were well known for their physical prowess fell like flies around him and a tight encirclement was suddenly torn into a gap, allowing the surrounded soldiers to escape and return to the main unit.

Seeing the ambush had failed, a slightly taller Beastman’ officer shouted a few unintelligible words, and instantly, what was once a large group of angry Beastmen scattered like scared rabbits in all directions, disappearing into the shadows behind the overgrown underbrush. Thus, they vanished as sudden as they had appeared.

Gone was the sound of combat in its place came the chirping of the birds, the falling of the raindrops from the trees and wailing of the wounded still lying on the ground. In the once again quiet forest, the dim sunlight on a late autumn afternoon barely shone through the heavy foliage, leaving speckles of brightness against the green moss of the jungle, over the murky puddles and on the pale faces of the young fallen warriors.

Soldiers breathed heavily, gasping for air. Their muscles tightened, their fingers clenched firmly around the sabres, and their eyes filled with bloodthirst scanned their surrounding constantly, seeking out their next target. They couldn’t believe that the soul-stirring battle had already ended.

Dukla was the first one to regain his senses; he shouted the order: “Don’t just stand there like idiots! Help your wounded brothers! And you there, cut down a few trees and make stretchers.”

Like waking from a nightmare, soldiers awkwardly unpacked their med kit, patching up the wounded, checking whether the person on the ground was still alive and if they could capture a surviving rebel as hostage.

Only now did Dukla remember: “Who was the brave soul who rescued my men?”

Several archers pointed him towards a young soldier examining the area: “He did! He saved our brothers; he is a hero!”

“That is me.” Feeling slightly embarra.s.sed, the young soldier smiled mildly while showing his white set of teeth… Unfortunately it was about the only clean place left on his face. Everywhere else was practically covered in mud. Even though he wasn’t very tall, he looked like a man capable of holding his own. His gazes were sharp and focused. His uniform was covered in mud and blood; one couldn’t even tell what colour it used to have. He seemed to have lost his hat somewhere during the battle as he searched methodically through the battlefield.

“Good work, son. You fought well! You are not from my unit right?”

“Right, I’m just pa.s.sing through. You must be the Captain…?”

“Right your a.s.s!” Dukla roared: “Didn’t your officer teach you anything? When you are talking to a superior officer, you need to use honorific and do so with conviction. Say: ‘Right, Sir! Yes, Sir!’ Now try again!”

The amiable young man smiled and stood at attention: “Yes, Sir!”

“Good, now you look like a soldier! Very well, tell me your name, rank and your unit. I will make sure you are rewarded!”

“You are too kind, Sir.” The young man showed a pleasant smile: “My name is, Stirling. I’m currently serving in the Central Army; rank – Central Army Commander and a member of the High Command… So, when are you planning to reward me, Sir?”

He finally found his hat. Shaking off the dust and wiping off the sludge, the golden hawk badge once again shone brightly on top.

……

“Sir, you are acting out again!” Central Army Staff Officer - Tang Ping complained, he sounded as if he was talking to a child unwilling to take his medicine: “You were only supposed to inspect our defences, how did you end up in the frontline again? What if something happens…”

“Exactly!” Second in command, Deputy Commander Qin Lu chimed in: “All the division leaders are complaining: ‘We welcome Sir Stirling to inspect our defences, but can he please not rush into battle every opportunity he gets? We cannot afford if something happens to Sir Stirling!’ Sir, we all know how brave you are, but as the Commander of the Army, your duty lies beyond that of a normal soldier. You are responsible for our overall strategies, planning and leading us in battle…”

“Yes, yes. I know.” Stirling hastily changed the subject: “Today I went to check up on the three divisions on our left flank. Lu Ning’s division did a decent job on the defences; good trench work. Wen He’s division was terrible, not a single person knew what they were doing. I walked through his territory for almost half a day, not even a single guard stopped me for questioning, and his trenches were more like ditches, so shallow no way a soldier can hide behind. There was even an idiot Captain who led a small force of three hundred men into the forest, trying to stir up trouble for the rebels. Didn’t I specifically give the order: ‘Never chase into the forest?!’” By then, Stirling’s voice was throbbing with anger.

Qing Lu hurriedly explained: “Wen He’s division was originally a Cavalry division. They were used to be on the offence, not defence. All his officers were not trained to hold the line. I will talk to him about this later.”

“We can’t attack anymore. Our casualties are way too high. That d.a.m.ned forest; we’ll never have enough bodies for that!”

Stirling sighed, his voice turned from angry to stern: “Wen He must be held responsible for his negligence. Tell him, he has been demoted, from Red Banner Master to Banner Master. He will however remain as the commanding officer of the third division. Warn him, if he messes up again, he can go report to the constables himself.”

Both Qin Lu and Tang Ping couldn’t help laughing: It was already the third time Wen He got demoted this week, and every time Stirling sounded seriously angry. Yet, every time he managed to find some excuse to promote him right back to his old position.

It wasn’t just Wen He, almost every officer knew, Stirling was strict but fair. When serving under his command, one could easily get promoted, but could very easily get demoted just the same. Stirling had a zero tolerance policy for failure. Almost all of the officers had to regularly check in with the Staff office first thing in the morning, asking: “Am I still a Banner Master today or Red banner Master?” or “What? I’m only a Banner Warrior now?! I was still a Deputy Commander just yesterday!”

Finally, Tang Ping found the opportunity to inform Stirling, the Acting Commander of the Black Banner Army – Ming Hui had arrived. He had been waiting for him at the Army Headquarter.

Stirling was overjoyed. Ming Hui’s arrival signalled the presence of the powerful Black Banner Army nearby. The soldiers of the Central Army would no longer have to fight without support and would finally have time to take a breather!”

……

Inside the simple and crude Headquarter held together by branches and sticks, two highest ranking officers in the Far Eastern Region met face to face.

Stirling saluted: “Greetings, Commander. As ordered, I’ve held the line.”

Ming Hui returned the courtesy: “Greetings, Commander. As ordered, I’m here to provide support.”

Ming Hui and his escort wore the identical deep blue uniform; their snow white gloves were spotless. In contrast to their polished black boots, the golden epaulettes on their shoulders s.h.i.+ned brightly under the sun. Each of them looked well rested. On the other hand, Central Army Officer’s uniforms were more like filthy rags. Every one of them looked completely exhausted with their muddied bandages wrapped around their body. Some of the officers even came to the meeting stripped to their waist and having half of their foot exposed through their rotten boots. Even the highest ranking officer, Stirling wasn’t doing much better either. Covered in sludge from top to toe, he didn’t even have a hat on when he came to welcome the guests, which could be considered as an unacceptable behaviour for someone of his stature.

Black Banner Army officers exchanged a look amongst themselves, revealing their imperceptible intention to laugh. Was this what the most elite army of House ZiChuan looked like? They were hardly much better than a group of baggers.

Normally a high level meeting between two major armed forces was a very important and historical moment, but Ming Hui spoiled it t completely when he whined: “Stirling, don’t you guys in the Central Army eat? We’ve come a long way and we are tired. Not a single person has offered us anything to eat.”

Stirling smiled bitterly, apologizing: “I apologize on behalf of my men. Prepare dinner for Sir Ming and our other guests, now!”

Deputy Commander Qin Lu returned with a pained-look. He was in charge of the logistics, and his motto was:”You can take my life, but you can’t take my food!”

Seeing how determined Stirling sounded, he hurriedly gave the order: “Prepare the dinner!”

Freshly cooked rice was quickly prepared. Several Central Army officers immediately turned sideways, hiding their famished look from their guests… the alluring scent of the rice was too much for them to bear…

Ming Hui asked curiously: “Stirling, don’t you want to eat?”

Stirling explained: “I already ate with my men earlier, please pay me no mind.”

Ming Hui laughed: “I see, so even the great Stirling has learned how to cut corners. Indeed, the soldier’s meal is pretty good, but why isn’t there any meat? Stirling, you are being too stingy, hiding all the good stuff from us. I know you have it difficult here on the frontline, but it is not like I’m asking you for fresh steaks or fish or something, how about some cured pork meat at least?”

Stirling and his men looked at each other. In the end it was still Stirling who answered bitterly: “I’m sorry, I don’t have any. Once I catch some wild rabbits or boars tomorrow, I promise I will send some of them you way.”

Ming Hui was too hungry to argue. Despite his constant complains he still finished his meal in record time, all the while instructing Stirling: “If soldiers don’t eat well, then they won’t have the will to fight. That is why, when it comes to war, having the necessary provisions is the most important! Stirling, you have much to learn still!”

What he really meant was, he had tasted more salt than Stirling had tasted food. An inexperienced brat like him better not try to take the Far Eastern Front Commander position from him!

Standing on the side, all the Central Army officers looked angrily throughout the entire exchange. The Central Army had to depart abruptly from Di Du due to the urgency of the rising threat in the Far East. They were given no time to gather all the necessarily supplies before they had to set off for the battlefield. Not only that, they had to fight deep behind the enemy lines, exposing their supply lines to constant cut offs. On the other hand, not only did Ming Hui’s Black Banner Army purposely arrive later than supposed to, they constantly avoided any frontal engagement with the enemy forces while stripping every province they pa.s.sed through of all its usable resources. Yet, he had the gall to mock them in front of their faces.

Central Army Staff Officer – Tang Ping finally lost his cool: “I have had the pleasure to read Sir Ming Hui’s incredible reports, killing seven million rebels in a week. I doubt anyone in the history of ZiChuan can outdo what you have accomplished, Sir!”

All the Central Army Officers barely kept themselves from laughing out loud. They despised Ming Hui and his fict.i.tious reports. Apparently he had single-handedly killed all the rebels; we might as well all go home now!

Ming Hui wiped his mouth, uncaring: “Thank you. I’m just doing my duty as a servant of ZiChuan!” As if he couldn’t detect any hint of sarcasm in Tang Ping’s words.

Stirling gestured with his hand, stopping any of Tang Ping’s further attempts. He already had the honour to witness Sir Ming Hui’s “thick skins” in action when he took part in the campaign against Liu Feng Shuang back at the western border, and it was “thicker” than Stirling’s, ZiChuan Xiu’s and Di Lin’s combined. Mocking him would be like trying to poke a hole in a set of metal armor with a bundle of hay, it wouldn’t even tickle. Otherwise, Ming Hui would never have run as fast as he did whenever he saw Liu Feng Shuang’s Army.

After the dinner, the meeting officially began.

Stirling explained the situation of the Central Army to Ming Hui: “The Central Army left the Capital with a force of hundred fifty thousand, of which fifty thousand were Cavalries and hundred thousand were Infantries. After the battle at Fort Warren, the Great Race of the Far East, and the defensive operations around the Forest area of Yun… We have suffered over forty thousand casualties, most of which were Cavalries. From the initial fifty thousand Cavalries, we barely have twenty thousand left. We have also run out of spare horses, in other words we have lost most of our mobility. The soldiers are tired and sickness is common. Therefore, I request the Black Banner Army to take over Central Army’s defence line for the mean time and let us recuperate.”

Ming Hui listened attentively while holding his chin. He cleared his throat and said: “About that… It’s problematic! Sir Stirling. As you know, my Black Banner Army is originally the reserve force guarding the border to House Lin. None of our soldiers have any real combat experience. I’m afraid they won’t be able to hold the lines. Besides, we came a long way; we need time to recuperate too! Also, none of us are native in the Far East. Many of us haven’t yet acclimatized to the region. Many of my men are sick, greatly affecting our battle capacity. In addition, we have lost our supply of fresh fruits recently. Everyone has been complaining…”

Listening to Ming Hui’s long list of excuses, Stirling was about to burst: Black Banner Army hasn’t acclimatized; is everyone from the Central Army born in the Far East then? Over half of my men are suffering from dysentery! You have run out of fruit supplies; all we have are wild vegetables. You claim none of you have any combat experiences, is everyone in the central army naturally born accustomed to war? Not to mention, it is a lie anyway. Black Banner Army already took part several times in the battles against House Liu Feng!

Stirling managed to suppress his anger, asking: “Since the High Command’s order was for your army to support ours, what kind of support does the Black Banner Army wish to provide?”

‘Well, my advisors already proposed a plan to me before I got here, and I believe it is a good plan! Someone bring me the maps!”

Ming Hui began to draw on the map: “Here is the forest area leading to Yun. The bulk of the rebel forces are concentrated within. The blue line represents your current defensive positions. We plan to deploy around the line marked in red to support the Central Army in your efforts and wipe out the rebels together!”

Stirling was this close to completely losing it: The red line Ming Hui just drew for the Black Banner Army positions were almost entirely behind the blue line of Central Army’s current defensive positions. He sounded sincere when he said: “wipe out the rebels together.” In reality he fully intended to hide behind the Central Army to preserve his strength.

Stirling quickly got hold of his temper. In the end, Ming Hui was not under his direct command. He didn’t have the authority to give him any orders. The best he could do was going through the High Command or Headmaster – ZiChuan Shen Xing to give him an order indirectly. Unfortunately he found himself in a place thousands of kilometers from Di Du, sending a message and receiving it would take weeks. Besides, he couldn’t be certain if the High Command or ZiChuan Shen Xing would approve his suggestion. Even if they did send out the new order, Ming Hui could voice his protest, telling his side of the story. They were both members of High Command; it was within their rights to do so. With messages going back and forth, who knew how long it would take for the case to finally be settled.

But the situation in the Central Army couldn’t wait; they really needed time off the frontline. Every day was like years and every day they would lose hundreds of soldiers to hunger, sickness or any other non-combat related issues. Instead of saying they could still keep fighting, it was probably more accurate to say they could still get out of bed. All of his men were about to become walking corpses at this point.

Stirling had no choice but to put up his best manners when talking to Ming Hui, but no matter how pa.s.sionate or how hard he tried to reason, to promise or to plead. Ming Hui would still remain the old slippery fox that he was, responding to every request the exact same way: “About that… It’s problematic!”

Stirling seemed to have lost all of his confidence, he even let an unthinkable thought cross his mind: He considered to wait until Ming Hui’s forces has settled in, then take his men and move under the cover of the night, never to return, leaving Ming Hui to deal with the Rebel Army on his own. But then again, he knew he would never do something like that. If that b.a.s.t.a.r.d Ming Hui followed his example and left as well, who would be left to defend the forest? It had cost him dearly to pacify the few surrounding provinces, if the Rebel Army was allowed to spread through the Far East again, who could bear the responsibility?

Unknowingly, the night had dawned on them. Ming Hui got up and took his leave: “It’s late. Let’s continue our conversation another time. I need to get back.”

Stirling ran out of ideas. He couldn’t possibly hold him hostage, can he? All he could do was leaving a group of Central Army Officers and their troubled looks behind.

Stirling forced himself to sound confident, instructing: “It is all right. The war goes on with or without the Black Banner Army. We still got a dinner to eat.”

The orderly brought everyone their “dinner”. A big pot of wild vegetable soup so thin one could see their own reflection on the surface of the liquid. Normally there was a bit more substance to their wild vegetable soup, but they had already gone through today’s allotment of ration when they made the dinner for Ming Hui and his escorts. So that was all they had left.

Stirling poured a bowl of watery soup, with barely any vegetable in it. He smiled bitterly and reminded himself: The key to drink wild vegetable soup is to drink as much as you can, until you are so full you can’t drink another drop, and hold your pee for as long as you can because the hunger will quickly return once you do.

While everyone worriedly consumed their meal, Ming Hui’s joyous voice sounded from the entrance: “Aha, Stirling, you terrible liar! Keeping all the good stuff for yourself again only to take them out when after I’m already gone! Luckily, I caught you red-handed this time! I want some of that too.” It was too dark for the Black Banner Army officers to find their way back, and so they had to return to the Central Army’s base camp, planning to stay for the night.

Ming Hui looked curiously over Stirling’s shoulder before he could cover everything up: “Let’s see, so what have you been hiding from me?”

Just one look, Ming Hui’s face turned sour: “That is all you got?”

Stirling was too embarra.s.sed to speak. Tang Ping muttered a few words under his breath: “If not this, what else? You ate everything we got for today.”

Ming Hui held his silence for a moment, finally opening his mouth: “Give me a bowl.” He poured himself some of the soup, but it took him only one sip, before the sickening expression found its way to his face. He pushed the bowl to the side and stared at Stirling: “How long has it been?”

Knowing he could no longer hide it from him, Stirling answered truthfully: “Two weeks. We haven’t received any supplies for a while now.”

Ming Hui’s looked very intense. He couldn’t believe the slick and political savvy officer from moment earlier was the same person standing in front of him: “Why didn’t you report?” hurriedly correcting himself, he added: “Who did this? Luo Ming Hai? Why don’t you file an impeachment?”

Ming Hui already knew the answer. It was Luo Ming Hai being jealous of Stirling’s accomplishments in war. He was afraid of Stirling surpa.s.sing him and overtaking his position. He did this on purpose to hamper Stirling’s efforts.

Stirling answered honestly: “I have no proof of such, and anything that can lead to potential troubles for the Headmaster, is a fault of mine.” He didn’t want to fight Luo Ming Hai as well while the House was already in peril.

Ming Hui pondered for a long while, then speaking slowly: “Stirling. You are a good man! But I’m not a coward! I won’t make any promises, but two weeks, my Black Banner Army can managed that much at least! Tell you men to fall back.”

Stirling was delighted. He gave Ming Hui a deep bow: “On behalf of everyone from the Central Army, we are incredibly grateful to you, Sir Ming Hui. I’ll be in you debt!”

Three days later, the Black Banner Army had overtaken the defensive position to replace the Central Army. Over hundred thousand soldiers from the Central Army, since the war in the Far East first began, were finally allowed to take a breath of fresh air as they retreated to the province of Deja nearby.