Chương 39: Stalking the Cicada

Chae-ha sighed as she looked out over the column of marching Tai-shan warriors, her head peeking out from inside a supply wagon. The air was eerily silent; shoulders drooped, and feet dragged in the dirt. Everyone was exhausted from the constant marching, and despite Mu-cheon's heroism, morale was still low from their recent defeat. This wasn't a group of men who believed they were marching to victory; it was a bunch of tired soldiers, mechanically following orders.

Everything about this new deployment was troubling. Even if Commander Mok's plan worked, and they recaptured the mine – it was largely irrelevant. In the context of the greater war, the Tai-shan were still badly outnumbered, and the same tactical liabilities that had been holding them back all along remained. The territory would just be lost again in the coming weeks. The only good news to come out of the last few days was that the rain had finally stopped, but even that small victory felt tainted.

As the clouds broke and the skies began to clear, the eerie light of the Guest Star returned to haunt the nights once again. No one in the column took it for a good omen. The marching slowed and eventually stopped as the battalion reached the section of road that had been ruined by Mu-cheon's felling of the trees. The scouts had seen Meng-shan watchers scurrying away as they'd approached the obstacle, which was both a good thing and a bad thing.

On the one hand, their goal was to attract the opposing column's attention, so it was good that the enemy now knew of their arrival. On the other hand… it meant the enemy now knew of their arrival. Chae-ha stepped out of the supply wagon, walking down the line of troops until she found Mu-cheon and Tae-seok near the vanguard. In front of them, men were squeezing around the fallen trees on either side of the road, walking through the mud and the gunk, and falling into formation on the other side.

The paths they were taking were nowhere near wide enough for the supply carts to pass.

"It's good to see you, little sister. Any idea how we're going to get those wagons through? I thought about trying to cut down more trees on the sides to widen the space, but I don't know what to do about the stumps." Chae-ha shook her head.

"It's better not to take the supply wagons. I suggest leaving them behind, with a small guard." Mu-cheon blinked.

"That's an option? But our orders were…"

"The point of engagement isn't far ahead. And as Commander Mok so kindly pointed out, getting all the wagons through this spot would be a nightmare. Even worse, being attacked by the Meng-shan while we're struggling to do so would be a catastrophe. If he asks later, we'll just tell him we tried really, really hard, but couldn't find a way to get them through." The young girl rubbed her temples, wincing slightly.

"We're better off leaving them here, so we can move quickly and focus on getting our combat forces in order. We can always use a train of runners to retrieve the supplies." Mu-cheon crossed his arms in thought, frowning slightly.

"This isn't like you. Even I can see that nothing is stopping us from continuing to work on getting the wagons through after the column marches off. There's no reason the workers we leave behind need to stand around and wait." After a brief moment of surprise, Chae-ha looked down at the ground and smiled sheepishly, feeling embarrassed for having underestimated him. Paradoxically, being called out on her bluff also made her feel a little better.

"Okay, senior brother. You caught me. There's a completely different reason that we should be leaving the supply wagons behind." The Young Master raised an eyebrow, watching as her small smile began to fade and her expression grew somber again.

"And that is?"

"If things go wrong… well, let's just say we'll be extremely thankful they're already on this side." Commander Mok sat upon his warhorse, looking down his nose at the chaotic mess unfolding on the road ahead. The Tai-shan column in front of him had ground to a halt. The old-growth pines that Mu-cheon had so theatrically felled a few days earlier were doing their job, almost completely blocking the main road.

As a result, their soldiers were being forced to break formation, slipping in the mud and snagging their robes on broken branches while trying to squeeze past the colossal trunks. Elder Eom Tae-seok's men were going first, and they already looked miserable. The Vanguard Commander smirked. It seemed fitting; they made this mess, after all. Now they got to wallow in it. With a sharp tug on the reins, Mok turned his horse back towards Laiwu, dismounted, and handed his horse off to one of his men.

It would be useless where he was headed. The Vanguard Commander adjusted the strap keeping the holster on his back in place, before going off to join the sixty warriors he'd selected. The group was already waiting for him by the tree line. Passing in front of them, Commander Mok stepped off the compacted gravel of the road and vanished into the dense woods. His chosen warriors followed behind. The canopy above them was thick enough to plunge the forest into a perpetual, emerald twilight.

The hunting trails they were taking were treacherous and narrow, forcing the group to move in a single-file line for most of the trip. The terrain was badly suited for the Tai-shan style. But Mok was a veteran, and he had planned for this. He had specifically selected a dozen men from the local Laiwu garrison to act as rangers. These were mountain-born men, light on their feet, who moved through the dense brush like ghosts. Mok kept them pushed out a li ahead of the rest of his troops.

Twice during the grueling, hours-long hike, his men marched past the warm, bleeding corpse of a Meng-shan scout – identified and executed by the rangers before they could raise an alarm. The Vanguard Commander nodded grimly each time; silencing the scouts was their most important function. At around the time the afternoon sun began to dip behind the surrounding peaks, the trees finally started to thin. Mok raised a fist, bringing his column to a halt.

He crept forwards to the edge of the tree line, parting a cluster of bushes to peek out at what was in front of them. And there it was. The Iron Creek mine. The reinforced timber entrance was carved directly into the side of the mountain. Outside the dark maw of the cavern, a garrison of roughly three dozen Meng-shan soldiers milled about. They looked bored and complacent. Several had propped their long spears against the wooden barricades to gamble over a game of dice near a sputtering campfire.

Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. Commander Mok's eyes narrowed. He motioned for his lead ranger, a lean man with a shortsword, to come closer.

"Take the other locals," Mok whispered, his voice barely carrying over the wind.

"Double back down the trail a bit so they don't spot you crossing the road. Station yourselves on the opposite side of the clearing. When you have their retreat cut off, give the signal." The ranger nodded once and vanished into the brush. Commander Mok spent the next twenty minutes positioning his remaining heavy infantry, preparing them to charge. He drew his blade, his thumb testing the edge of the steel. The anticipation of violence was thick in the air. And he was very much looking forwards to it. Hoo! Hoo!

The mimicked call of a mountain owl drifted across the clearing.

"Now!" the Vanguard Commander shouted. Mok and his soldiers burst from the forest like a flood pouring out from a failed dam. His charging soldiers roared in unison, a terrifying wall of oxblood silk and flashing steel, crashing down on the clearing. The Meng-shan garrison never stood a chance. The soldiers by the fire scrambled for their spears, but the Tai-shan were already upon them.

The Vanguard Commander led by example, driving his shoulder into the chest of the first man he encountered, and then aiming a brutal, two-handed chop at the second. It wasn't long before his Dae-jik-do was dripping with blood. Panic erupted. The Tai-shan soldiers flooded the space, their greatswords making short work of the disorganized spearmen. To Commander Mok, it was a very satisfying slaughter.

Realizing the battle was lost, a handful of Meng-shan soldiers abandoned their posts and sprinted for the road, presumably hoping to warn the main column down the valley. But the rangers were already positioned to block their line of retreat. Short-swords flashed, and the cowards found themselves falling face-down in the mud before they could even scream. The remaining survivors broke and fled into the dark depths of the mine.

Commander Mok casually flicked the blood from his blade before slamming it back into its scabbard. The entire engagement had lasted less than a ke. Strangely, none of the Meng-shan veterans or high-level officers seemed to be anywhere in sight.

"Secure the entrance!" Mok barked, stepping over a corpse to inspect the campfire.

"Don't follow them in there. Let the rats cower in their little hole until we flush them out." He turned to his lead ranger.

"Run back down the game trails. Notify the main column that we have taken the mine and are now in position. We're just waiting on the smoke team." The ranger bowed and darted off into the woods to deliver the message. The Vanguard Commander stepped up to the edge of the clearing and looked down the path that led back to the main road. He couldn't see it from here, but he knew exactly what was happening. Mu-cheon and Tae-seok were engaging with the Meng-shan column. It would be a brutal, bloody affair.

Mok didn't know exactly how long it would take his secondary squad to find the ventilation shafts high on the mountain. It could be an hour. It could be three. But he also found that he didn't much care. A genuine chuckle rumbled in his chest. The beauty of this strategy lay in the very roadblock that arrogant little Inspector had ordered built. Because the road behind the Tai-shan column was blocked, they couldn't execute another one of their cowardly retreats.

They were pinned between the Meng-shan spears and their own barricade. This time, they had to fight. And the newcomers would bear the brunt of the resulting casualties. A vicious smile spread across the Vanguard Commander's face. He could afford to take his time. Let the insolent pup and his tame elder lose half their men against the spear wall. Let them taste a little despair. They deserved it, after what they had done.

When their so-called 'elites' were exhausted and on the verge of breaking, Mok would finally march down that road and smash into the enemy column from behind. He would save the bulk of the Tai-shan soldiers, crush the Meng-shan between them, and secure the greatest victory of this campaign. And then he'd see just whose name the soldiers would be chanting.

It was slow and painful, but the Tai-shan column made its way around the fallen trees and resumed its march, eventually reaching the T-junction that led to the mine. As they turned to take the path leading to the east, Chae-ha couldn't help but notice that the quality of the road continued to worsen, slowly narrowing and incorporating more and more dirt into the surface as they went along. When the scouts reported sighting the Meng-shan column ahead, Chae-ha pulled Elder Eom aside, whispering in his ear.

After listening for a few moments, the old man grimaced.

"The Squad Captains aren't going to much care for that, young lady," he protested weakly, already sounding resigned.

"I know. But our path backwards is blocked, and no one else would be fast enough. Having them be bushwhackers is the only viable option right now." Tae-seok nodded in agreement and went off to instruct a few of his men to begin cutting a path through the woods. One which would eventually join up with the pre-existing hunting trails. When he returned, he found Chae-ha staring at the approaching Meng-shan column, frowning. He followed her gaze out to the approaching enemy formation.

Riding in front of the lines of spearmen were two figures on grey horses. Both wore the purple robes of the Meng-shan, decorated with intricate silver embroidery. One – apparently a Lesser Elder – was slighter of build and didn't seem to be carrying any obvious weapons. The other, however, rivaled the Tai-shan in sheer body size. He carried an imposing, oversized glaive, but what stood out the most about him was something else.

Down his shoulders ran the embroidered claws of a mountain tiger, curling wickedly over his broad arms and chest. They were the markings of a Meng-shan High Elder. Chae-ha's blood ran cold. The last time they had faced a High Elder, the man had been almost completely alone, and she and Mu-cheon had still almost died. This one had a literal army at his back. Tae-seok tensed, his hand reaching for his sword, but it seemed like the Meng-shan weren't yet ready to make their move.

As the two columns neared each other, Chae-ha could see the Lesser Elder pull out a fan and place it in front of his face. The man then began tapping on a small drum secured to his waist. The first two ranks of Meng-shan spearmen began to advance, walking past the two officers and reforming on the other side. Feeling sick to her stomach, the young girl closed her eyes for a moment. The man was a strategist. That could not be good. Both sides continued advancing.

The Meng-shan stopped marching just outside of their own range, spears bristling as if daring their enemies to charge them. The momentum of the Tai-shan column faltered, and the two sides stared at each other, neither apparently wanting to make the first move. Chae-ha looked again at the enemy strategist. He seemed completely unbothered by this. But to her, none of it made any sense. The young Inspector looked to the grizzled veteran standing beside her.

"Why aren't they pressing forwards, like they did before?" The retired general stroked his beard as the stand-off continued.

"I'm not sure. It's hard to see how taking such a defensive posture could benefit them. We're currently cutting them off from any additional supplies that might make their way down the road, so you'd think they'd want us out of here fast. Actually, come to think of it, it's a little strange that we didn't encounter their supply train at all on the way here." Chae-ha looked around and shook her head, trying to make sense of the situation.

"That's a good point. And now it looks like they're deliberately stalling. But for what reason?"

"They aren't trying to push us back and secure the road," Tae-seok muttered, his eyes narrowing as he stared at the enemy lines.

"Which means they want to keep us right where we are."

"If they were to force us back onto the main road, we would ultimately wind up pressed against the barricade Mu-cheon created. Wanting to keep us where we are now implies that they want the rear of our formation to be accessible…" The two stared at each other for a moment, the young girl's words hanging in the air. Then, both of their eyes went wide.

"LIEUTENANT SHIN!" they screamed together, almost with one voice. The Lieutenant jumped and rushed over in a sudden panic.

"What?! What is it?"

"Young man, you need to send some scouts further down the main road, right now," Tae-seok commanded, his voice brooking no argument.

"Yes, okay, but w–""We may be in a lot of trouble," Chae-ha interrupted him, her face completely drained of color.

"There's likely a second Meng-shan column headed this way."