Chapter 44: Neat and Efficient

Meanwhile, two miles away from the camp, Li Le pulled to a halt and began feeding his horses to let the men and mounts recover their strength.

Seated on a camp stool, he listened to Li Feng's report.

Having been on duty in the latter half of the night at Zijin Mountain, Li Feng had naturally seen a cavalry troop enter the Huben camp from the southeast after dawn. This matched Wang Zhi's account: a detachment sent to hunt down escaped prisoners.

Li Feng recounted in detail: "Most of the thatch on the barracks has already been burned, and less than half has been repaired so far. The Huben soldiers in the camp are exhausted and do not welcome our arrival. Wang Zhi has lost his courage and intends to lay down his armor."

With over eight hundred horses at stake, Li Feng was sorely tempted, and Li Le was no less moved.

If they took them by force, most of the Huben would scatter—so be it. Once he had these horses, and conscripted the able-bodied men and women from the towns and villages south of the Fen River, he would have the capital to head to Xihe.

From Xihe, he could proceed to Shangjun, submit to Li Jue, and secure the governorship of Shangjun, Beidi, or Anding commandery; that would break the deadlock for him. As for the disputes here in Hedong, what did they have to do with him?

With soldiers and horses in his hands, future opportunities to rescue the sovereign and participate in the power struggle would still remain.

Having made up his decision, Li Le looked with a smile at Zhao Yan nearby: "Elder Zhao, nearly half of the wounded in the Huben camp are heroes and loyal men of Hedong. It's just that Jiangyi holds some misunderstandings. Could Elder Zhao go to Jiangyi on my behalf to requisition medicinal supplies?"

Zhao Yan remained silent. Seeing Li Le's smile gradually fade, he immediately replied, "Then this old man shall make the journey. I only hope the General Defending the West will remember the Huben soldiers' loyalty to the state and spare some leniency."

"Since Elder Zhao gives me face, naturally I will not let down your good intentions." Li Le raised his head and sighed lightly. "Things have come to this; what good path does Elder Zhao think remains for me?"

Without answering, Zhao Yan simply rose, bent low, and bowed deeply to Li Le.

Li Le also stood up. A personal guard led over a horse, and he mounted it with athletic agility, turning his head to shout, "Mount!"

The accompanying guards mounted one after another, generally beaming with joy and brimming with high morale. Over eight hundred horses! Once they conscripted the able-bodied men and women, everyone could become a core military officer with men at their command.

Good days were beckoning to them; how could they not be excited?

The sound of hoofbeats gradually faded. Zhao Yan stood straight, watching the hundred-odd riders recede into the dust and smoke.

Following behind were more than two hundred of Li Le's foot troops, and further back still, over three hundred commandery soldiers.

More than a hundred Huben soldiers from the two counties south of Mount Zhongtiao remained nearby, most of them mounted.

The two county officials responsible for escorting them northward came before Zhao Yan and bowed with cupped hands: "Elder Zhao, shall we all go to Jiangyi together?"

"Very well. Once Li Le has departed, you can assist this old man in gathering the Huben."

Zhao Yan consented. A mounted attendant brought his horse, and with the attendant's assistance, Zhao Yan mounted, eyeing the Huben soldiers who had gathered around. "Let's go."

Li Le's departure was, after all, not a bad thing. Gathering the remaining Huben would remove one obstacle to marching south to Anyi.

Han Xian, by contrast, was a reasonable man—quite unlike Yang Feng and Hu Cai.

With this detachment of Huben guarding the inner palace, the Son of Heaven would be able to break free from Yang Feng's restraint and gain greater autonomy.

Yet the most difficult part remained the cold indifference of Hedong's great clans and powerful families.

If not for professional bandits like Yang Feng's gang, Zhao Yan suspected the powerful clans of Hedong would have organized their own bandits to drive the Son of Heaven out of the territory.

Thus, more than a hundred Huben infantry and cavalry escorted Zhao Yan, proceeding northward along the imperial highway.

Meanwhile, Li Le's detachment rode swiftly and lightly, swaggering directly into the encampment.

As soon as he entered, he spotted the wounded Huben soldiers sunning themselves. True to Li Feng's words, they were universally exhausted—some lying on dry straw, others leaning against corners—paying no attention to them whatsoever.

Some Huben gazed at them with utter apathy; clearly, the recent battles and casualties had dealt a heavy blow to these sons of good families.

Li Le did not harshly demand any show of respect from these Huben; he, too, had originated from their ranks. In terms of blood ties, some of these Huben might even be his relatives.

He rode straight into the parade ground, followed by two battle banners. Given the meager resources of Hedong, he could not manufacture large imperial banners matching his official rank.

One of the two battle banners read "Governor of Liangzhou," and the other, "General Defending the West." Both were fashioned from ordinary cloth, with crude embroidery, barely passable for use.

He reined in his horse and scrutinized the Huben leaders standing before him, his gaze falling upon the face of Wang Zhi, whose injured left foot made him easily recognizable.

He had met Wang Zhi a few times. Seeing Wang Zhi pull a mournful face and struggle to salute, Li Le waved his riding crop. "Since you are wounded, dispense with the formalities."

"This subordinate thanks the General Defending the West."

Just as Wang Zhi managed a strained bow, Li Le vaulted down from his horse, grasping his whip as he stepped forward.

At that moment, out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of Zhao Ji emerging from the barracks, drawing a bow to its full circle. Li Le's expression changed drastically.

A few quick-witted troopers were about to spur their horses forward, while most of the cavalrymen were still dismounting.

In a flash of lightning, Zhao Ji released the bowstring. The arrow streaked by like a blurred shadow and drove straight into Li Le's throat.

Pierced instantly, Li Le's robust body crashed heavily backward, his eyes wide, making gurgling sounds in his throat.

Almost simultaneously, Huben soldiers standing behind the low wall raised their heavy crossbows and took aim. One cavalryman, propelled by momentum, urged his horse forward, raising an iron halberd in his right hand to strike down Wang Zhi.

In an instant, more than fifty heavy crossbows were discharged. Seven or eight troopers still in the saddle were struck by arrows, and their mounts neared agony, letting out long neighs.

Some dismounted riders tried to vault back onto their horses, while others stood back-to-back with spears and halberds. Huben soldiers all around surrounded them with spears and halberds, and others stood atop the low wall with bows drawn.

"Carrying the Emperor's secret decree to punish the rebels!"

Holding the imperial decree high in his left hand, Zhao Ji stepped past Wang Zhi, staring down the dozen or so of Li Le's subordinates standing before him. "Li Le is dead, the rest shall not be questioned! Those who take up arms in resistance shall be treated as traitors and executed on the spot!"

Jia Tong stepped forward with a spear and shouted loudly, "Drop your arms at once!"

"Drop your arms at once!"

The surrounding Huben shouted in unison. Several of Li Le's subordinates in the front rank were driven back half a step by the cry, then looked at one another.

For a long, drawn-out breath, the Huben behind the low wall had already re-spanned their bows, holding their heavy crossbows leveled at them.

Li Feng glanced left and right, then roared angrily, "Cunning scoundrels, how could they possibly spare us!"

Zhao Ji pointed his sword at Li Feng. Instantly, the heavy crossbows fired, and a row of men were driven back several steps, staggering and collapsing to the ground.

Men and horses in the rear were also struck by arrows, throwing the formation into chaos.

Li Feng received special attention, taking seven or eight arrows before falling backward, lifeless.

Zhao Ji stepped forward three paces: "Surrender your arms and you will be spared!"

At that moment, one of Li Le's subordinates in the crowd grabbed a heavy crossbow from his horse's gear and aimed it at him.

Catching sight of this out of the corner of his eye, Zhao Ji swung his sword in a slash. With a crisp snap, the crossbow bolt was batted away.

In a fraction of a second, he heard many people drawing sharp breaths; numerous subordinates of Li Le stared with wide eyes in sheer disbelief.

Then a blurred shadow plummeted into the crowd. The crossbow-wielding subordinate took an arrow straight to the face and collapsed among the throng.

Jia Tong brandished his bow and roared angrily, "Refuse to drop your arms, and don't blame us for disregarding bonds of kinship!"

At last, as more than fifty heavy crossbows were re-spanned, one of Li Le's subordinates broke under the pressure, dropped his iron halberd, and fell to his knees.

Then came the incessant clatter of spears, halberds, sabers, and swords hitting the ground.

Pointing his sword to the side, Zhao Ji commanded, "Step out of the ranks and wait over there for arrangement!"

Compelled by the heavy crossbows, these men could only get up and slowly walk toward an open patch of ground.

At this juncture, auxiliary soldiers poured out of the barracks, advancing with ropes to bind the disarmed men.

Having laid down their arms, the men resigned themselves to fate and offered no further resistance.

Jia Tong strode forward and swung his saber down heavily, severing Li Le's head. Impaling it on a spear, he quickly mounted a horse brought by his companion and, leading the other riders, galloped out of the camp.

Zhao Ji did the same, hurriedly leading his men to mount and ride out of the encampment.

Outside the camp, Li Le's subordinates and the commandery troops were still marching in column formation when Jia Tong rode up at the forefront, impaling Li Le's head—still wearing its golden helmet—on a spear.

Charging to the head of the formation, Jia Tong reined in his horse sharply and shouted, "By imperial decree, we punish the rebel minister Li Le! Li Le's head is here, the rest shall not be questioned!"

Several of Li Le's confidants leading the column wore looks of horror and wheeled their horses around to flee. The Huben cavalry flanking Jia Tong charged forward, cutting down some with spears and halberds, and shooting down others with bows and crossbows.

The commandery troop formation in the rear ground to a halt. Commandery Major Fan Zheng reined in his horse, holding his spear horizontally at the head of the column. The three hundred-odd commandery soldiers quickly reformed from a marching column into a small, outward-deploying square.

Squinting at Li Le's disarmed subordinates dozens of paces ahead, Fan Zheng sensed grave danger and was about to dispatch men to notify Wang Yi when he saw another, much larger force of cavalry charging toward them, forcing him to abandon the idea.

Without knowing the newcomers' stance, acting rashly when his horses lacked stamina would make escape extremely difficult.

Meanwhile, the Huben of the two southern counties and Zhao Yan were still on the imperial highway, a little over two miles away.

Watching the Huben counterattack, Zhao Yan was instantly overjoyed. "Quickly follow this old man to assist the Huben in punishing the rebels!"

Glancing sideways, Fan Zheng felt a wave of relief and fortune.

Had he truly dispatched messengers to report the news, Zhao Yan's side would very likely have intercepted the couriers.

It would have been fine if the messengers were killed on the spot, but had they been captured alive, he would have found it difficult to explain himself.