Ninety-five

“Uncle Zhi, are you afraid of dying?” Li Miao asked Chen Dao on the other side.

“Not afraid!” Chen Dao shook his head. Born in turbulent times, he had seen through life and death. He was not afraid of dying, but wanted to know for whom and how he would die.

“What about those Boy Scouts?” Li Miao asked again.

“Not afraid either!” Chen Dao replied, helping the Boy Scouts on the other side.

Those Boy Scouts were deeply grateful to Lord Li Miao. If not for him, many of them would have already been buried in the ground; without him, they would have starved to death. Li Miao had given them life and a second chance. Each of them was willing to die for him.

“Good. Since none of you fear death, let’s play a game!” Li Miao’s face twisted into a grimace. Mei Qian, oh Mei Qian, if you want me, Li Miao, dead, then before I die, I will bite a piece of flesh from you. Li Miao’s villainous nature fully erupted.

“Uncle Zhi, I order you to have all the Boy Scouts descend from the city walls and line up, ready for battle!” Li Miao said to Chen Dao.

“Descend from the walls?” Chen Dao was stunned. Why descend from the walls? They were fighting a defensive battle. If they left the walls, who would guard the city?

“We will no longer defend Jiangting City!” Li Miao continued.

“Your Majesty, please reconsider. Though small, Jiangting City covers over an acre of land and can help us hold out longer!” Yang Hong advised.

“Hold out longer? Just a little longer! Minister Yang, do you think Jiangting City can still be defended?” Li Miao pointed to the battered city as he spoke to Yang Hong.

Jiangting City was a small county town. During the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the Liu Pi uprising, and various bandits and even government troops, it had been plundered repeatedly. Thus, it was a broken city with earth walls piled up to form the ramparts.

The earth walls, combined with years of neglect, could not withstand the enemy.

So Li Miao decided to abandon the walls altogether. The walls were useless and might even become a hindrance because his troops were mostly children—these Boy Scouts could not match the bandits in strength or one-on-one combat.

Once the siege began and the enemy climbed the walls, it would turn into brutal close-quarters fighting.

These were not the Boy Scouts’ strengths. Moreover, since the Boy Scouts had been formed less than a month ago, they had not trained for such battles. Li Miao did not believe a child could defeat a strong adult in single combat.

Since one-on-one fighting was hopeless and the Boy Scouts had no training in city defense, they would rely on what they did best—group battles and positional warfare.

Therefore, Li Miao chose to give up Jiangting City and take the offensive.

“Taking the offensive?” Yang Hong was already struggling to keep up with Li Miao’s ideas. Giving up the walls was one thing, but attacking proactively? This was madness, especially since the enemy was stronger.

Li Miao did not explain much to Yang Hong but looked toward Chen Dao, saying, “Uncle Zhi, tell me, isn’t Chen Nian a notorious rogue known to everyone?”

Chen Dao nodded. Back in Chen Family Village, Chen Nian was a well-known scoundrel. Due to idleness, he even caused his mother’s death, couldn’t find a wife, and once peeped on a widow bathing. If not for his great-uncle’s protection, he would have been beaten to death long ago.

Despite all this, Chen Nian never reformed and had now done something even more foolish.

“How far is Mount Song from your Chen Family Village?” Li Miao asked again.

“Our village lies at the foot of Mount Song!” Chen Dao answered.

“Uncle Zhi, do you think the bandits of Mount Song know Chen Nian’s notorious name?” Li Miao’s lips curled into a rare, meaningful smile.

Chen Dao looked puzzled. What was this about?

Chen Nian was infamous, and Mei Qian was a notorious bandit leader, cautious and shrewd. Li Miao realized his chance had come. A suspicious bandit leader and a compulsive liar scoundrel together—if no sparks flew, it would be a shame to him.

Li Miao planned to use the upcoming battle to promote Chen Nian, portraying him not as a coward but as someone fearless, willing to infiltrate the enemy camp at great risk to draw out Mei Qian and his bandits.

If Li Miao spread this story, how would Mei Qian react? He would become even more cautious, causing his troops to hesitate and lose combat effectiveness. This would give Li Miao his opening.

To defeat the enemy, one must first sow discord from within.

“Your Majesty, brilliant!” Even Yang Hong was excited. Such a stratagem would surely weaken the bandits’ morale.

“But Your Majesty, I think you should not fight personally!” Yang Hong said to Li Miao.

Li Miao would not want to risk himself on the battlefield unless to boost morale—war was dangerous, and a careless move could mean death. But he had no choice.

“Your Majesty, your precious life cannot be risked. I believe there is someone more suitable for this battle!” Yang Hong suggested.

“Someone more suitable?” Li Miao was stunned. Who? He was eager for someone to take his place.

“That would be the Prince Consort, General of the Eastern Garrison!” Yang Hong said.

“Brother-in-law?” Li Miao was taken aback. Was Yang Hong out of his mind? Send Huang Yi to the battlefield?

Did Li Miao have no patience left? Did he think himself too old? Or did Yang Hong have a grudge against Chen Dao, wanting to doom him and the Boy Scouts?

Huang Yi was not just a liability; calling him a dead weight was an insult. He was more like an enemy’s secret sixth man.

“Your Majesty, though the Prince Consort has flaws, he also has his strengths!” Yang Hong was the first to speak well of Huang Yi. Li Miao thought Huang Yi was a complete disaster—if his late father-in-law had any sense, he wouldn’t have married off such a beautiful sister to him.

“Minister Yang, do tell us the Prince Consort’s strengths!” Li Miao rolled his eyes.

“Well, um, uh…” Yang Hong was stumped. What strengths did Huang Yi have? Frequenting brothels? Betraying comrades? Cursing? Squandering money? Framing loyal men and stealing credit?

“Stealing credit!” Yang Hong suddenly exclaimed excitedly.

“That’s a strength?” Li Miao twitched. If Qiao Mao and the others were alive, they’d want to kill Yang Hong for slandering loyal men. Huang Yi dealt in faulty weapons, got excited only when the wind was favorable, and fled the moment things turned against him. Is that a merit?

If so, Li Miao himself had once been a “top ten” young man with endless “strengths.” He could only laugh bitterly at that thought.

“Your Majesty, if this is a battle where we are outnumbered, what would the Prince Consort do?” Yang Hong asked.

Easy. The cheap brother-in-law would charge faster than anyone, eager for glory. But if the tide turned and they were outnumbered, he’d flee at lightning speed. There was a record of him abandoning five thousand troops on the battlefield and running back with only a few guards. Had Li Miao not pleaded, Huang Yi would have been executed.

Li Miao now regretted ever saving such a useless man and could not forgive himself.

“What if you don’t tell the Prince Consort the truth?” Yang Hong asked again.

“What do you mean?” Li Miao sensed something.

Yang Hong explained: don’t tell Huang Yi they are outnumbered. Instead, say they have reinforcements and ambushes ready. Huang Yi would then scramble to claim command glory. Such a gift of victory couldn’t be refused.

In a favorable battle, Huang Yi was a god, able to contribute eighty percent of the damage. Everyone in Jiangting knew his name. For a coward to charge ahead meant morale would soar—if even the faint-hearted led the charge, victory was assured.

“Minister Yang, isn’t this a bit dishonest?” Li Miao hesitated. Lying was wrong, especially to his own brother-in-law.

“Then please, Your Majesty, lead the charge yourself!” Yang Hong urged.

“Cough, cough,” Li Miao coughed. “Minister Yang’s strategy is excellent. Very well, as you say! Send someone to summon the Prince Consort!” Li Miao called to his guards. “Better to die together than live apart”—this was his motto. As for the cheap brother-in-law Huang Yi? Ha! Who’s that? Don’t know him well!

“Yes!” Someone left immediately.

“Your Majesty, there is one more thing to inform you!” Chen Dao spoke up.

“Speak!”

“Your Majesty, among my Boy Scouts, there are fewer than ten battle knives!”

“Fewer than ten battle knives?” Li Miao suddenly recalled a grave problem: his army truly lacked weapons. Most had only bamboo armor and bamboo spears; iron weapons were nonexistent—not out of laziness but poverty.

There were indeed some fine battle knives, tempered steel blades, but only a few hundred, and all held by the Imperial Guards. Though Li Miao had founded the Boy Scouts, he could not simply seize the Imperial Guards’ weapons. Doing so might provoke mutiny.

Since Zhang Xun had taken the Imperial Guards away, only about thirty battle knives remained for the Boy Scouts.

Previously, Li Miao relied on psychological warfare and the empty city tactic to trick Mei Qian into retreating, so weapon shortages did not matter. But now, due to the blunders of some from Chen Family Village, the situation had changed, with Mei Qian’s army returning, intent on leveling Jiangting City to vent his hatred.

For Jiangting City’s sake and to buy time, they had to face the Mount Song bandits head-on. A fierce battle was inevitable.

Without iron weapons, this posed the greatest problem. You can’t expect the Boy Scouts to bite the enemy to death with their unbroken teeth.

With no weapons in hand and none in the armory, they had no choice but to turn to Lord Li Miao.

Li Miao was distressed. Where could he find battle knives? He didn’t know how to forge weapons, and even if he did, it was too late.

Seeing Li Miao’s difficulty, Chen Dao’s heart sank. “Your Majesty, if there are none, it’s fine. We Boy Scouts will use our teeth to bite the enemy and never let them come near you!”

Chen Dao prepared for a desperate fight to buy time.

Just as Chen Dao was about to leave, Li Miao shouted, “Wait!”

Chen Dao stopped. “Does Your Majesty have instructions?”

“I don’t have battle knives, but what about other knives?” Li Miao asked.

“Other knives?” Chen Dao was puzzled.

“I mean, kitchen knives. Would those do?” Li Miao blushed slightly, for he truly could not get hold of real battle knives.

These kitchen knives were hard to come by, as the Great Hua Empire regulated knife sales strictly.

And Ma Feng’s ingenious Taobao was still far in the 21st century.

“Kitchen knives?” Chen Dao twitched at the corner of his mouth. Kitchen knives and battle knives, though both knives, were worlds apart—one a masterpiece within a blade, the other a typical rustic tool.

What kind of metal was used for kitchen knives? Mostly scrap iron, sometimes better for sickles or hoes.

“How many do you have?” Chen Dao asked.

“Enough!” Li Miao answered.

“That will have to do,” Chen Dao nodded. Having something was better than nothing. Going into battle unarmed would be a joke—or worse, wielding wooden swords, inviting the enemy’s laughter.

“Go now, and come back for the kitchen knives later!” Li Miao ordered.

“Yes, Your Majesty!” Chen Dao left.

Li Miao opened the Lokiya device made in Henan before him, the battery barely showing thirty percent.