The Path of Li

第三章

Chapter 3

It was the second quarter of the Dog month, but the weather was still relatively pleasant. More like summer, almost without rain, with light, weightless clouds against the all-enveloping dazzling blue sky. Li sat on a rock, watching life in the camp from the hill.

He could see the smokes of the smithy, where Tang, who was the first to meet them on the forest path and who took them to the camp, has been working for several moons already. Even here, at the top of the hill, the smell of Aunt Mio's cakes could be detected. He could also hear children's merry voices somewhere on the edge of the nearby forest.

Each tent had a fire on which they cooked their supper. Li remembered with a grin what it cost him to persuade Liu Hei to provide him with several people and plough the first wedge in the spring.

At first, the tired rebel leader did not even understand what this strange warrior, so dissimilar to his fellow deserters, was talking about?

"What do you mean by ploughing? What are you talking about?" The conversation took place in his tent after another successful skirmish. That spring, they managed to capture notable trophies and even the treasury of one of the governor's detachments. "The hands of these people (Liu waved his head towards the entrance to his tent) have long lost the habit of the plough. They are more accustomed to destruction. The creation will corrupt them, make them weak…"

Li shrugged.

"You are the commander, you decide. Just tell me, Chief, how are you going to feed your army, which is growing day by day? Your warriors show more and more strength in each battle, as the governor sends more and more soldiers against them. A couple more battles – and we'll have an army of skeletons, unable to lift Master Yang's staff from the ground.

Liu Hei glanced at him in a squint manner and shifted some papers on the table.

"What do you suggest? Say what you want to say; I am ready to listen to you."

"We need to occupy a village abandoned by locals, and for some time, the soldiers will have to turn back into farmers. In the spring, we will plough as much land as we can and sow it with the grain.

Our women and children will take care of the crops. There will also be a smithy and a forge. Our weapons need to be thoroughly revised after so many battles or even completely refurbished.

A smile of understanding appeared on Liu Hei's face. A Man of war could see another man of war.

"But where can we find so much land?"

"I've got some thoughts," Li Zicheng replied evasively. He and the old man had already discussed everything more than once and had several good ideas for this case.

Several men pointed out the location of the village at once. Someone went there on business, while others had relatives there. One way or another, but for the rebels, this was the ideal place for a long-term base: abandoned, with rich soil, several undamaged houses, an entire forge, barns and a nearby mountain river. A Great find!

Another advantage of this village was that it was located far from the trade routes. It was this fact, and not the fear of an imminent war, that forced its inhabitants to leave the village. Someone moved to the South in search of a better life; someone moved to relatives in the surrounding villages. When Liu Hei's army came to the village, only two elderly people lived in it.

Hei's fears turned out to be in vain: not being professional soldiers, the rebels were happy to return to peaceful labour. The hands of the farmers missed peaceful labour – things were set in motion.

Luo Yang and Li Zicheng, with the permission of Liu Hei, decided to introduce the traditions of state military settlements in the newly formed army when almost full troops in the border areas were sent to cultivate the land. In military settlements, warriors were given land, inventory and working animals, assigning 50 mu.

At the same time, Master Luo recalled a letter from Emperor Yongpe to Liu Yingu, head of military settlements in Henan: "If those tired and weakened people will again be forced to assist the soldiers who are now taking a break from military affairs, they will suffer even more, and the soldiers will remain idle. After all, the soldiers are kept to protect the people. How can they bring unnecessary suffering to the people?"

Whereas the system of military settlements justified itself in the regular army due to its self-sufficiency, while raising certain questions about the combat effectiveness of those units in the rebel army, it was the self-employment of soldiers that became the way out of the food crisis. Now, after a while, there was no need to fear imminent famine.

In their free time after fieldwork, the soldiers practised fighting and sword techniques under the leadership of Zicheng.

Besides, Li introduced mandatory training for coherence in combat and combat reconfiguration in his units.

The warriors brought in captured armour and weapons and put them in order, and had

An opportunity to eat well and rest. They could not yet resist the imperial troops in open battle, but using the tactics of ambush attacks, they could expect that over time, the imperial commanders would begin to see them as a problem, and that was enough for them at this stage.

This is what Li Zicheng feared most of all. The information about a well-organized detachment in the depths of the province has not yet reached the emperor's ears or has disappeared in the stream of reports about similar clashes in the district. But as soon as the warlords begin to take Liu Hei's "army" seriously, things would change.

Li reported these and his other concerns to the rebel leader at the end of the summer. Liu Hei received him in what was now his home, listened carefully, and then asked a single question:

"What do you suggest? Shall we abort the uprising?"

Li shook his head.

"It would be the only reason, but, at the same time, the completely wrong way. You would be torn apart by your army as a traitor to the interests of the people."

Hei looked at him without averting his eyes or blinking. He expected Li to continue.

"And what is your suggestion?"

"I don't know yet," Zicheng shrugged. "You need to understand, Chief. If they manage to expel us out of the foothills onto the plains and force us to fight with the regular army, your warriors will be done. The wooden shields of our soldiers will not be able to withstand the fire of the imperial soldiers. And the imperial cavalry will simply smear our infantrymen across the steppe. You have to come to terms with this. The damage from gunpowder guns is unlikely to be too great, as the horses are those that tend to be frightened by the sound of explosions the most, the cavalry attack poses the main danger: we will be swept away in one go.

Li was well aware that the rebel leader wasn't happy how guests had changed the manner in their army. And that picture was terrible. Finally, Liu said:

"What do you suggest?"

"I don't know, Chief, I don't know… Of course, you can keep using the raid tactics for a long time, but sooner or 2later the enemy will find our camp and destroy us. And we do not have enough forces and means for an open battle. It turns out to be a dead end.

…That conversation took place at the end of the summer. And now he sits on a stone above the village and thinks about the same thing. One battle followed by another, with the next battle ahead… People are dying, villages and cities are burning.

Li heard soft steps and immediately recognized the steps of Mun: he was a little clubfoot due to the trauma he received as a child. An experienced warrior would not confuse his step with any other.

"I'm listening to you, Mun," Zicheng nodded without turning around. He imagined the surprised teenager's face and involuntarily smiled. Mun always tried to approach inaudibly, but he never succeeded, and he was constantly upset when Li called his name.

"Master Luo invites you," the kid said with respect, bowing. Although everyone unanimously recognized Liu Hei as the indisputable leader, Li Zicheng's authority in the rebel army was at on undisputable height after a series of brilliant victories under his direct command. Li got up, shook off his robe, patted the boy through his disobedient twirls, and walked away from the village to a place where Master Luo Yang was enjoying peace in a lonely fanza.

The old man greeted him, sitting over a cup of tea in the clouds of pipe smoke. He nodded casually at Li as he entered and stuck another scroll into his bottomless travel bag.

Zicheng nodded to the master and sat down on the bench opposite him. Taking a cup with an incredibly fragrant tea from the hands of the old sage, Li nodded, sipped half of it with caution and put the cup on the table. He looked at the master and waited patiently for an elder to start talking.

Luo Yang gave him a sharp look, with a note of satisfaction. He did not express impatience, which he did several times shortly before, and the master liked it. The student remembered his lessons.

"Amazing weather reigns in the mountains this fall," Luo said, lighting his pipe. Zicheng shrugged.

"In the villages, they say that this portends a cold winter. It's good that Hei agreed to move to the village with his army. I am almost calm now about how we will survive the winter.

"Almost?" Master Luo raised his eyebrows in ostentatious surprise. Lee chuckled.

"Almost because the governor will hardly let us spend the winter carefree. The rest of the districts revolted. On the one hand, this is beneficial to us: we will not attract so much attention. The military will find something to do and someone to deal with. On the other hand, they will bring large forces.

The regular army will always be stronger than a handful of disjointed and poorly trained fighters.

"Well, as for training, thanks to your help, the former tanners and farmers can already defeat many of the provincial warriors!" The old man laughed softly. Li also allowed himself to smile. "As for others, the situation is much more serious. Things went more or less well while there were one detachment and one leader. But now, when the dissatisfied have the opportunity to choose whom to follow, there will be more and more people fighting for different leaders. Believe me, it will not lead to anything good. We need one leader and one Goal."

Li sipped his tea again and watched the light steam rising from the cup, silent. Then he quietly said:

"So they are all doomed?"

"In fact, yes!" The old man said simply.

"And there is no way out?"

"I don't see it yet."

"What if we give up?"

"What's the point? Everyone will be executed anyway. Death in battle is at least honourable."

"But all these women and children… What will happen to them?" Li gazed into the eyes of the wandering sage but only saw the reflection of the fire. Luo Yang paused, then said:

"Do I hear the despair in your voice?"

"No, I am dreaming about hope."

"I don't understand you today. What kind of hope are we talking about, and what does dreaming have to do with it?"

Li took a deep breath, calming the incoherent thoughts rushing in his head like moths at night attracted by light. Then he said:

"I don't see how this uprising is going to end. We can conquer a couple of districts, change something for ourselves, take land from the princes, and settle down. But I have a feeling we will be fighting until our last days.

Luo Yang nodded in approval.

"I'm glad you occupied yourself with these thoughts. It means you are on the right track. Only fools have no doubt. But you have a responsibility for those who believed in you. I do not know how this war will end. Sometimes riots swept away dynasties from their thrones. Who said it won't happen this time?"

Li Zicheng flinched:

"Did I hear you, right? Are you suggesting… to kill the emperor?"

"Do you intend to hide in the woods all your life? And by the way, mind that I haven't offered anything yet."

"But…"

By the end of autumn, Liu Hei's "army" had grown to one and a half thousand people. Without further ado, Zicheng suggested organizing men using imperial army regiments and classifications.

With the consent of the leader, he divided everyone into groups of ten, hundred and fifty, assigning commanders for each, and singled out pikemen and archers into separate teams, working with them separately.

There was a reason for that. Even though they have only met scattered detachments of government troops numbering no more than one and a half hundred soldiers, Li could not stop thinking about the time when the governor and his commanders woke up and sent the cavalry and garrison units, armed with hand cannons.

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