Chapter 40: The Valiant Man (III)

The signal fire wasn’t lit early or late—it ignited precisely after everyone arrived on the island. How could this not arouse suspicion?
Li Kuo ordered his troops to remain where they were, waiting patiently for Xian Yu Cheng to return with news from the scouts. This island was too unfamiliar, so the young man had to be cautious!
Before long, a dark figure could be faintly seen among the rocks in the distance. The archers instinctively nocked arrows, aiming at the moving shadow behind the boulders. At their commander’s signal, they would shoot through anyone who came their way!
“Wait!”
Li Kuo waved his hand, stopping his subordinates from acting rashly.
The young man sensed something strange about the signal fire. After all, Longju Island was surrounded by sea on all sides—there was nowhere to land. If there were Tubo soldiers on the island, even if they spotted the Tang army and lit the fire right away, who would come to their aid?
That left only one possibility: they had deliberately lit the fire to draw attention to themselves!
Apart from the Tubo people, who else could live on this island, and who would want to draw his attention?
Li Kuo tapped his forehead, his gaze fixed on the boulder about ten zhang away on the sandy shore.
The person hiding behind the boulder must have realized they had been discovered, so they stuck out a wooden pole with its twisted branches cut off, waving a piece of brownish-red cloth on it.
Seeing them try to make contact, Li Kuo stepped forward a few steps.
“General, be careful—it might be a trick!”
Dou Qing grabbed Li Kuo’s robe sleeve, warning him.
“I’m fine. You don’t need to follow me.”
The young man smiled cheerfully at Dou Qing and continued walking forward.
But Dou Qing wouldn’t back down. He called a few bodyguards and followed closely behind.
“Who’s behind the rock? Come out and meet us.”
Li Kuo nodded, his voice friendly.
The waving flagpole stopped mid-air. After a long while, a middle-aged man with a dark complexion, wrapped in torn cloth, slowly stepped forward, raising his hands tremulously.
Li Kuo frowned and sighed, “Why would a valiant man go to such extremes? Brother Dou, quickly send him some clothes.”
Dou Qing waved his hand, and two bodyguards carried a set of washed clothes forward.
Since the army took in Cui Hua and the other survivors, they no longer had to worry about washing clothes. Those kind and thoughtful girls would always wash everyone’s clothes in time, carrying with them a delicate feminine fragrance.
Seeing someone approaching, the middle-aged man stepped back slightly. After clearing his throat several times, he spoke in a trembling voice, “Are you Tang people?”
Li Kuo smiled slightly and said, “We’re not only Tang people—we’re also part of the Tang army!”

The middle-aged man seemed unable to believe what Li Kuo said and asked again, “You… are you from the Tang army?”
Seeing that he was dazed, as if struck by some shock, Li Kuo didn’t rush to question his background. Instead, he said gently, “You might as well change into clean, tidy clothes. We can talk again then.”
The middle-aged man thought for a moment before nodding in agreement. He turned and waved behind him, and slowly, two or three hundred people emerged from behind the stone circle. Like the middle-aged man, they were wrapped in coarse cloth covered in holes. Their dark cheeks showed no expression as they stared blankly at the Tang army.
The sudden appearance of hundreds of people resembling refugees shocked Li Kuo. Why were there so many ragged poor people on Longju Island all of a sudden? Moreover, some of them could speak Tang dialect?
The middle-aged man swallowed hard and said, “You really are from the Tang army. How did you suddenly end up on Longju Island?”
“Dare you! Military secrets aren’t something you can pry into. How rude of you, a barbarian!”
Dou Qing was furious at his ignorance and scolded him.
Li Kuo waved his hand and said, “We are from the Tang army in Longyou. We intended to return to Shenwei City by sea, but encountered a storm. Fortunately, we found this island; otherwise, we would have all perished at sea.”
Seeing his honesty, the middle-aged man hesitantly asked, “Is that really the case?”
Li Kuo spread his hands and said, “Not a word of lies.”
Hearing this, the middle-aged man could no longer hold back his emotions. He grabbed the brownish-red piece of cloth in his hand, knelt down, and said, “Has the general ever seen this flag before?”
By now, Li Kuo had completely dismissed his suspicions about the middle-aged man. The young man stepped forward, picked up the cloth, and examined it closely. The brownish-red dye had faded significantly, leaving faint black lines visible, but the words were hard to make out.
“General, this is our army’s flag from Longyou!”
The middle-aged man clung to Li Kuo’s thigh and cried out.
The young man stood there stunned, unable to process what the man had said for a moment.
“Repea—what did you say?”

The middle-aged man wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes, gritted his teeth, and poured out all the stories pent up in his heart at once: “My name is Lin Feng. I was originally a Tang general of the Jishi Army in Longyou, always ordered to garrison in the fortresses. In December of the 20th year of the Kaiyuan era, on an ordinary noonday with a strong north wind blowing outside, everyone sat around the fire in the fortress as usual. While chatting merrily, a scout rushed into the fortress and knelt down, saying that the Tibetans had suddenly crossed the vast Chiling Mountains and were attacking from the south. At first, I thought they were just here to plunder autumn crops, so I ordered everyone to burn down the crops in the nearby fields and keep the city gates tightly closed. I thought the Tibetans would retreat once they ran out of food and supplies. But who would have thought—they didn’t attack the Jishi Army at all but headed straight for Dahuaxian County.” (Note 1)
Lin Feng’s voice grew colder, his eyes filled with hatred: “Everywhere—dense crowds, at the entrances of valleys, at the foot of mountains, in the cracks between rocks—there were Tibetan barbarians! My brothers watched as the Tibetans walked right by them without daring to shoot an arrow. It’s not that we’re weaklings; it’s just that the Tibetans were in huge numbers, with as many as 50,000 in their vanguard alone. Even if we charged out to fight bravely, we could at most kill a few thousand of those barbarians, but it wouldn’t have any impact on the overall situation. But Dahuaxian County in Guozhou was undefended, and the Tibetans had invested heavily. If we didn’t leave someone to warn General Gai right away, it would eventually fall to them!” (Note 2)
Lin Feng wiped his tears and said, “We quickly lit beacons to call for help, but from Bayan Mountain to Shanzhou, it was as if no one existed! The smoke signals rose high into the sky, yet not a single person came to reinforce us! I heard that at that time, General Gai was busy performing for the emperor and didn’t even notice the beacons lit in front of Shanzhou City!” (Note 3)
Lin Feng’s eyes turned red as he cried continuously.
Heaven, this man—no, these ragged, poor people were actually soldiers of Tang Dynasty’s Longyou!
What had turned them into this state? Who had abandoned them? Who? Who!
Li Kuo felt as if a huge stone was pressing down on his heart, unbearable.
“What happened after that? Did we manage to hold Guozhou?”
Although Li Kuo could already see the answer in Lin Feng’s eyes, he still hoped for a miracle out of sheer luck.
“Hundreds of thousands of Tibetans crossed over, leaving nothing but barren land. Once their army arrived, they launched a fierce attack on Dahuaxian County. With less than 800 defenders in the city, how could they withstand the Tibetans’ powerful assault? On December 28th, the city fell, and the Tibetan barbarians massacred everyone inside…”
The young man’s heart sank; the glorious sacred tower in his heart collapsed in an instant.
Massacre?

This strange term suddenly appearing in his ears felt so oppressive and terrifying. The young man refused to believe what he heard. Wasn’t the Tang Dynasty invincible? Didn’t all nations pay homage to it? Ever since, he had been proud to be a son of the Tang Dynasty—his country gave him such a strong sense of security and pride, unmatched by any other nation!
At least in Chang’an, he saw that whether it was the green-eyed, red-haired Persians or the short-statured people of Fusang, they all cast envious glances at him; whether it was the shrewd merchants from Khotan or the unruly Turks, they all marveled at the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty.
Could it all be a lie?
Otherwise, why was Kuozhou captured? Otherwise, why would a strong frontier fortress be utterly destroyed, leaving no survivors?
“We lost to our own people!”
Lin Feng bit his lip tightly, giving the young man an answer.
“Once Dahuaxian fell, Kuozhou was completely exposed. The Tibetans swarmed in like locusts—all the men were killed, all the women raped. It wasn’t until then that General Gai woke up from his dreamlike state and urgently sent troops from Xuanwei and Baishui to Shibao City. Of course, the Tibetans’ goal was Shibao City; they had mobilized the entire nation to fight this battle, determined to seize this strategic stronghold. The Huang River was stained red with blood, corpses piled up like mountains. Our brothers fought bravely at the front lines, yet the generals in the city sat idly listening to music! What kind of world is this?”
Lin Feng spat out a mouthful of phlegm and lamented.
Yes, what kind of world is this?
It’s us who defeated ourselves! Lin Feng’s words echoed in his ears, causing a dull pain in his heart.
Amidst the songs of the three thousand worlds, amidst the splendor of the twelve capitals… It turned out that from emperors and nobles to ordinary people like himself, everyone had been living in a great dream from which they refused to awaken!…
Note 1: In June of the 29th year of the Kaiyuan era (741), the Tibetans launched a massive army of 400,000, advancing westward to Changning Bridge and then through Heyuan Army Camp (present-day Xining, Qinghai) to launch a large-scale attack on the An people’s forces. Subsequently, they attacked Shibao City (southwest of present-day Huangyuan, Qinghai). Shibao City was originally a place easy to defend but hard to attack, but due to General Gai Jiayun’s lax vigilance, it was easily captured by the Tibetans.
Note 2: Dahuaxian: located east of present-day Guidé, Qinghai.
Note 3: After taking office, General Gai Jiayun tried to please Emperor Xuanzong of Tang by presenting the famous “Ganzhou Dagu” and “Yizhou Qu” to him. “Basheng Ganzhou” is one of the segments within them.

Gai Jiayun: A famous general during the Kaiyuan era, but extremely arrogant and conceited.