Chapter 480: Enemy Attack and the First Snow

The grasslands at the end of October were filled with a somber atmosphere. Vast areas of grass had turned yellow and withered, and in many places, the grass roots gnawed by animals were visible. Occasionally, a rabbit could be seen grazing on the turf, only to dash away at the slightest sound. The towering yurts and the vast, flat grasslands, stretching as far as the eye could see, seemed to reach the edge of the sky. For Peng Shisan, who had spent most of his time fighting in Annam, galloping across such grasslands was the most exhilarating experience imaginable.

Drawing his bow to full tension, he shot another arrow that pinned a wild rabbit to the ground. Hearing the cheers from the soldiers around him, Peng Shisan became even more delighted. Yet, to his frustration, most of them still glanced enviously at the red-furred fox in Niu Gan’s hands. Who would have thought that despite his mediocre horsemanship and weak archery skills, he had such a trick up his sleeve—after fiddling around near an unremarkable burrow, he quickly captured such a fox.

Waving for Niu Gan to come over, Peng Shisan asked, “Stubborn Ox, have you ever caught foxes like this before?”

Since Zhang Yue had assured him that his companions would survive, Niu Gan’s greatest worry was gone, and he seemed much more energetic. He scratched his head awkwardly and said, “It was just by chance. Back then, we often didn’t have enough food working for the Tartars, so we would dig into rat holes and occasionally find fox dens. To find something to fill our stomachs, we would try any method possible. We ate the fox meat and hid its skin. If not for the furs we accumulated to keep warm, we wouldn’t have been able to escape Khulun Khushuun, let alone stay fed along the way.”

Though they called themselves a hunting party, these dozen or so cavalrymen also served as scouts. They could capture spies acting alone or scatter and flee to report back when faced with larger groups. Thus, almost everyone here had dealt with the Mongols—since this area was a border between Tartar and Oirat forces, they couldn’t assign separate teams, so they simply called them all Tartars, as it was convenient and easy to remember. Hearing that Niu Gan had come back from the north, everyone was astonished.

“I just mocked Brother Niu for not knowing how to ride a horse. I’m such an idiot! You did great—fight back and avenge us someday!”
“Some people from our village were taken to the north too. They only returned two years ago and have now been selected for the Imperial Horse Guard! You must perform well—soon you’ll be part of the emperor’s elite guards!”

Seeing a group of soldiers surrounding Niu Gan and laughing and chatting, Peng Shisan stopped talking and simply watched as the stubborn ox’s face turned redder under their teasing. Suddenly, he heard a loud cry above his head and quickly looked up to see an eagle in the sky. Just as he was about to say that seeing an eagle in the grassland was a good omen, a shout came from beside him. “It’s not a sparrowhawk—it’s a hunting eagle trained by the Tartars!” The dozen or so soldiers, still making a racket, quickly raised their heads at this warning, and the noisy group fell silent instantly. A few experienced veterans watched the small black dot in the sky carefully, their expressions growing serious. Peng Shisan saw the leading captain jump off his horse abruptly, kneel down, and press his ear to the ground to listen intently. He quickly scanned the distance; though he saw no unusual activity on the horizon, he didn’t dare take it lightly. “There are some riders coming this way—about a dozen of them.” If it had been a few people or even a hundred, the options would have been to confront them or retreat to the fortress. But just a dozen people made Peng Shisan hesitate. The captain pondered for a moment before gritting his teeth and saying, “Lord Peng and Brother Niu, hurry back to the fortress to report. The rest of us will go and find out what’s going on!” Although Peng Shisan was confident in his own skills, he knew well that those ten men worked well together. Staying behind would only cause trouble, so he nodded without hesitation. Soon, various kinds of prey were stuffed into his and Niu Gan’s saddlebags, while the soldiers joked as if nothing had happened. “Lord Peng, save my rabbit for me later—don’t let anyone steal it!” “Brother Niu, take good care of that fox. Fox meat isn’t tasty, but this little fox is a rare find!” “Once we catch those Tartar scouts, we’ll come back right away!” Seeing the group ride away at full speed, Peng Shisan called out several times. Seeing that Niu Gan was still dazed, he knew the boy must be thinking of past events. He simply mounted his horse, gave him a light kick, and then said in a serious tone, “Let’s go. Stop daydreaming—you can’t help now! I know you managed to escape from the north because you’re capable, but following them would just be a burden to us!”

After finally bringing back the stubborn ox’s spirit, Peng Shisan turned his horse around and rushed back the way he came. When he heard clear horse hooves behind him, he set aside those thoughts but still worried about the ten sergeants who had gone to scout. That old captain couldn’t even lie well; if he could tell the number of people just by listening, wasn’t he practically a god? It was simply his duty to face difficulties head-on, though he hadn’t expected those sergeants to remain so carefree at such a critical moment.

Half an hour later, Peng Shisan and Niu Gan finally made their way through the sparse woods and reached Xinghe Fort. Ignoring the sergeants who kept asking questions, he took Niu Gan straight to the deputy commander in charge of defense and recounted the entire incident in detail. Seeing the overforty-year-old officer rush out like a whirlwind to arrange defenses, he headed straight to the commander’s office—only to run into Zhang Yue at the door.

“Old Peng, we’ve just arrived. How could you just take people out like that…”

“Let’s not talk about that. When we were hunting earlier, we saw falcons in the sky. That hunting captain said he heard people and horses approaching, so he sent us back first while they went to investigate together!” Peng Shisan interrupted Zhang Yue and repeated the situation in one breath, adding solemnly, “On the way there, I asked them. They said that since the Tartars migrated northward, few people have herded livestock here, and the Oirats wouldn’t easily invade this restricted area. If someone really does come, it’s likely similar to the acts of setting fires to forests in Kaiping before.”

“You mean it might be Arutai’s outpost?”

Zhang Yue immediately grasped the key point. Seeing Peng Shisan nod, he turned and entered the office. Reaching the innermost room, he heard Wang Huan’s loud voice cursing loudly.

“Move Xinghe Fort inside the Great Wall? Nonsense! If we abandon Xinghe, Kaiping will be isolated and defenseless. Once the Tartar army surrounds it, there’s only death ahead! Besides, if we all retreat inside the Great Wall, we’ll have to adopt a defensive stance. It will be hard to fight them on the grasslands again. By then, the Tartars will rest and recuperate on the grasslands, harassing us a few times a year—suffering will be ours, not theirs! If you say the garrison at Xinghe Fort should be rotated, I might listen, but moving the administrative center is absolutely out of the question. I will never submit such a request to the court!”

Unexpecting that the discussion in the room was about relocating the administrative center at this moment, Zhang Yue couldn’t help but gasp. Given the urgency of the situation, he didn’t bother with further considerations and rushed inside. He saw Zheng Pingyuan’s face flushed red, while Wang Huan was trembling with anger. With no time to persuade them, he simply recounted what he had just heard. Hearing this, the two officers, who had such a large rank difference between them, immediately set aside their earlier concerns. Upon learning that the deputy commander had already been informed, Zheng Pingyuan’s expression eased slightly, but he still apologized before rushing out, almost colliding with Peng Shisan and Niu Gan who had just entered.

Wang Huan casually picked up the oilcloth cloak hanging on the back of the chair and put it on. When he saw Peng Shisan leading Niu Gan in, he immediately realized they were the two people Zhang Yue had mentioned, so he abandoned the idea of leaving right away and questioned them thoroughly. After learning every detail, his already furrowed brows became even tighter.

“Lord Zhang, let’s go to the watchtower and take a look!”

Whether in large cities or small towns, towns and fortresses throughout history have almost always been named based on the four directions, and Xinghe is no exception. However, since the walls on all sides weren’t very high, the watchtower was located slightly further back, just a zhang higher than the city walls. At this moment, Zhang Yue climbed the watchtower again, only to be staggered by the growing wind. Fortunately, Wang Huan beside him reached out to support him. After standing there for a while, his vision still showed nothing but silence, seemingly unchanged from before.

“Lao Peng, including the time we lost earlier, how long has it been since we set off?”

Peng Shisan, who had followed him to the watchtower, pondered for a moment before answering, “It should be a little over an hour.”

“A little over an hour… they should be back by now…”

Wang Huan murmured to himself as he gazed into the distance. Suddenly, Zhang Yue noticed several small black dots appearing on the horizon and quickly warned, “Look! People are returning from the north… No, so many of them!”

Almost at the same time, those on the watchtower saw a small black dot speeding toward them from the horizon. Even more striking were the dark clusters of people and horses in the distance, resembling a mass of dark clouds. At the forefront, it seemed someone was waving a white flag. Even though he couldn’t make out the pattern on the white flag, Zhang Yue wouldn’t think that such a menacing group would wave a flag of surrender. After thinking carefully for a moment, he suddenly realized.

“It’s the Tartar’s black flag!”

“Judging by the situation, there are at most a thousand or eight hundred men, yet they dare to use the black flag!”

After a moment of stunned silence, Wang Huan sneered and said, “If Xinghe still only has those over six hundred people, then they might indeed trap us here and prevent us from moving. But this time it won’t be that easy! Lord Zhang, I’ve already sent someone to Wanquan to report the situation. You can’t go back now—why not stay and see if this old man is truly too frail? Nearly two thousand men defending Xinghe behind the Great Wall will drag them to their deaths if necessary!” Almost as he spoke, faint snowflakes began to fall from the sky. It was the first heavy snow in Xinghe since winter began, arriving unexpectedly at a time when enemy troops were pressing in.