Chinese Generals Summoning System

Chapter 45: The Capture of Weihu Fortress

Behind Weihu Fort’s third checkpoint lay the fort itself. The leader, Fan Chong, fled directly back to the fort, where he immediately rallied the remaining few dozen bandits. Fan Chong then led them to the fort’s storeroom, where they seized all the gold and a portion of the silver before fleeing in panic through a secret passage in the rear mountains. As they fled, one of the bandit leaders asked Fan Chong, “Chief, now that Weihu Fort has fallen into the hands of these government troops, what are we going to do next?” Fan Chong gritted his teeth and said, “They killed my brothers! They seized my stronghold! This matter is far from over. I, Fan Chong, will not rest until I avenge this! Let’s go! We’ll head to Yanwang Ridge and ask the people there to send troops!” After Liu Ji led his men to the third checkpoint of Weihu Fort, they found the stone wall there completely deserted, with the wooden gate tightly shut. At that moment, Gong Du said to Liu Ji, “My Lord, could the bandits from Weihu Fort have escaped through the back mountain?” Yue Yi nodded and said, “It’s quite possible. After all, the bandits of Weihu Fort are nothing but a rabble; it’s already remarkable that they’ve managed to hold out against us for so long. It makes sense that they would flee at this point.” Hua Xiong said, “My Lord, if I lead some troops to launch an attack, we’ll know for certain whether the bandits have fled or not!” Liu Ji nodded and said, “Hua Xiong, Yue Yi, and Gong Du, take your orders: lead four shì of troops to storm the pass. Be careful and watch out for any tricks the bandits from Weihu Fort might have up their sleeves!” “Yes, my lord!” Immediately, Hua Xiong and Gong Du led forty soldiers, carrying several wooden ladders, and charged toward the final barrier of Weihu Fort. Soon, Hua Xiong and his men had set up the wooden ladders against the stone wall of Weihu Fort’s final checkpoint. Hua Xiong, Yue Yi, and Gong Du led the way up the wall, and only then did they confirm that the bandits from Weihu Fort had indeed fled. After Hua Xiong opened the gate of Weihu Fort’s final barrier, Liu Ji, beaming with a smile, led Chen Hao and the rest of the soldiers into the fort. Now it was time to reap the rewards. Although the bandits had surely taken some valuables with them as they fled, Weihu Fort had been a stronghold for many years, and in their haste, the remaining bandits could not have carried away all their wealth and supplies. so whatever remained inside Weihu Fortress would now be Liu Ji’s spoils of war. Liu Ji waved his hand and shouted, “Search it! Don’t miss a single corner! All the gold, silver, and supplies in Weihu Fort belong to us now!” At that moment, Yue Yi suggested, “My Lord, I will return to the second checkpoint of Weihu Fortress first to interrogate the bandits we’ve captured. We need to find out if there are any secret passages or hidden rooms in Weihu Fortress to guard against the bandits launching a surprise counterattack against us.” Liu Ji smiled and said, “As always, Yue Yi thinks of everything. Everyone, be careful while searching the stronghold—don’t let the bandits slip through the cracks.” While Liu Ji led his men in ransacking every nook and cranny of Weihu Fort, Le Yi returned to the stronghold from the second checkpoint. Upon seeing Liu Ji, he immediately reported, “My Lord, we’ve learned from the captured bandit leader that there is a secret path on the back mountain of Weihu Fort leading out of the mountains. The remaining bandits must have escaped via this secret path. Additionally, we’ve learned from the bandit leader that Fan Chong, the chief of Weihu Fort, and Wen Da, the second-in-command, had previously sent two trusted confidants to Yanwang Ridge, intending to offer a large sum of money to persuade the people there to send troops to rescue Weihu Fort.” “Yanwang Ridge? Is that a bandit stronghold too?” “According to the bandit leader, Yanwang Ridge is the largest bandit stronghold in this mountainous region bordering Yongzhou and Qianzhou. It has ten chieftains, known as the ‘Ten Kings of Hell,’ each possessing extraordinary martial arts skills. Yanwang Ridge as a whole has at least 5,000 troops. Now that Fan Chong, the leader of Weihu Fortress, has fled, I fear he may go directly to Yanwang Ridge to seek reinforcements and launch a counterattack on Weihu Fortress.” As soon as Liu Ji heard this, his brow furrowed deeply. “I had originally planned to stay at Weihu Fort for a few days to select some of the bandit prisoners who hadn’t committed particularly grave crimes and incorporate them into our ranks. But now that we face the threat of Yanwang Ridge, Le Yi, what do you think we should do next?” Yue Yi replied in a solemn tone, “I agree with your assessment, Lord. We do indeed need to bolster our fighting force. However, just to be on the safe side, I suggest withdrawing all troops from the camp outside the first checkpoint at Weihu Fortress and moving them inside the checkpoint. Then, we should concentrate our forces at the first checkpoint. Even if Yanwang Ridge does send troops against Weihu Fortress, we’ll still be able to put up a fight by holding the first checkpoint.” “Very well! Let’s proceed as you suggest, Le Yi. Immediately order Cheng Yi and Han Tao to lead the combat troops and auxiliary forces from the camp outside the first checkpoint to escort the captured bandits and all supplies into the first checkpoint of Weihu Fort. The unit of combat troops led by Cheng Yi and Han Tao will remain at the first checkpoint,Liu Pi and his squad of ten soldiers will also remain at the first checkpoint. With these three men there, plus sixty soldiers, I’m confident that even if Yanwang Ridge sends troops, they won’t be able to take the first checkpoint of Weihu Fortress anytime soon.” After a brief pause, Liu Ji continued, “By the way, Yue Yi, set aside some men shortly to gather all the captured bandits and hold them under guard inside Weihu Fortress. We must screen them thoroughly, eliminate those with a history of heinous crimes, and then incorporate the rest into the ranks of the combat troops and auxiliary troops.” Yue Yi nodded and said, “Yes, my lord! Also, we must station some men to guard the secret passage on the mountain behind Weihu Fortress to prevent the enemy from sneaking in through there.” “Then let Gong Du lead one squad of combat troops to temporarily guard the secret passage on the back mountain!” They worked until nightfall before they could compile even a rough tally of the spoils from Weihu Fort. As Liu Ji looked at the long strings of numbers, the corners of his mouth stretched almost to his ears. Including the major battle prior to the assault on Weihu Fort, Liu Ji and his men had captured a total of 684 bandits, among whom were Zhang Xiong, the third-in-command of Weihu Fort, and Li Qing, the fourth-in-command. They had seized 33 warhorses: 17 were captured during the previous major battle, while another 16 were found in the stables inside Weihu Fortress. These included the mounts of Fan Chong, the First-in-Command, and Wen Da, the Second-in-Command, as well as the mounts of the remaining 14 members of Weihu Fortress’s Iron Cavalry. In the stables of Weihu Fortress, 43 workhorses, as well as 6 oxen and 7 mules, were also seized. Additionally, 24 sets of intact iron armor, 30 sets of damaged iron armor, 56 pieces of intact leather armor, and 67 pieces of damaged leather armor were seized; some of the intact iron and leather armor were found in Weihu Fort’s storerooms. A total of 24 five-dou bows, 10 six-dou bows, and 6 seven-dou bows were seized; in addition to those captured during the battle, some bows were found in Weihu Fortress’s armory. Nearly 5,000 arrows were also seized. Over 2,000 weapons were seized, including a batch of brand-new steel swords and spears discovered in the Weihu Fortress armory. What excited Liu Ji even more was the discovery of approximately 70,000 taels of silver in Weihu Fortress’s armory; however, no gold was found. The gold from Weihu Fortress had likely been taken away by the remaining bandits, which left Liu Ji feeling slightly disappointed. In addition, hundreds of thousands of copper coins were seized; however, since one tael of silver in the Great Jin Dynasty was worth 200 copper coins, these hundreds of thousands of coins amounted to only a few thousand taels of silver. At the same time, not much grain was found inside Weihu Fort—only about 80,000 jin—along with nearly 10,000 jin of meat and over 20,000 jin of vegetables. The vegetables consisted mainly of Chinese cabbage, with a small amount of wild greens, while the meat was almost entirely cured pork. With these spoils from Weihu Fort, Liu Ji would not have to worry about food or money for the time being.