On the eve of battle, Ma Zhong's blood was already boiling.
Ever since he followed Lord Xuande out of Chengdu, the campaigns in Nanzhong had suited him perfectly.
No need to chant classics.
No need to copy characters day after day for inspection.
In the southern lands, a man could ride wherever his blade and spear carried him. To Ma Zhong, that alone was paradise. So much so that when Lord Xuande returned from his three-month expedition the previous year, Ma Zhong had used every trick he knew just to barely manage to stay behind.
The terrain of Nanzhong made it impossible to unfold the kind of massive, decisive army engagements common in the north. Battles there were never-ending skirmishes, difficult to conclude in a single stroke.
Though these constant small fights steadily sharpened the Yi Province army, they rarely produced great, glorious tallies of severed heads.
That was the nature of conquering Nanzhong. The priority lay in governance, not slaughter. That was also why Wu Yi remained endlessly occupied even after the fighting ended.
And that was precisely why Ma Zhong chose to leave Yi Province with Zhang Ni.
He wanted enough merit to prove that Lord Xuande's trust had not been misplaced. More than that, he wanted to prove that he belonged in the ranks of warriors, not behind a writing desk.
When Zhang Ni led the troops north, Yiyang delayed them hardly at all. The city had no real garrison, only a handful of Jiangdong soldiers guarding grain.
Three thousand men descended like heavenly soldiers. Yiyang was so intimidated that it opened its gates without resistance. After learning the situation from the captured Jiangdong troops, Zhang Ni did not hesitate and immediately pressed north without pause.
Yet when they finally caught sight of a massive encirclement involving tens of thousands, Zhang Ni, who a year earlier had still been serving as a mere gongcao, found himself hesitating.
Ma Zhong, however, was already fully ignited.
Hanshou looked as though it were about to collapse, yet it still resisted stubbornly. That alone showed that the disparity in strength was not overwhelming.
If reinforcements arrived now, would the outcome not flip instantly?
This was solid merit. Locked in.
Unlike Zhang Ni, Ma Zhong still remembered the days when Pan Zhang had personally handed him over to Pang Tong. He still remembered the heroic bearing of Commander Zhou at Red Cliffs and Nan Commandery.
Afterward, under Pang Tong and then under Lord Xuande, Ma Zhong had witnessed miracles with his own eyes.
Two months, six cities taken, Yi Province pacified with barely any wounded.
General Zhang ascending first to seize Yangping, Zhang Lu fleeing Hanzhong in panic.
General Guan securing Jingxiang with his navy, Cao Cao retreating in defeat.
Even Nanzhong had fallen like dry grass before a blade.
Unconsciously, Ma Zhong had come to believe that wherever Lord Xuande stood, victory was simply the natural order.
So when Hanshou appeared to be teetering, Zhang Ni hesitated slightly.
Ma Zhong did not hesitate at all.
He charged straight in.
"I am Ma Zhong. Who dares fight me?"
His clear shout rang across this corner of the battlefield. The sudden rear assault instantly threw the defenders south of Hanshou into chaos.
Zhang Ni was half a beat slower, but more cautious by nature. Seeing Ma Zhong already deep in the enemy ranks, he cast aside hesitation, raised his blade, and roared:
"Lord Xuande's reinforcements have arrived!"
Behind him, the soldiers moved in perfect tacit understanding. As they advanced, they shouted in unison:
"Lord Xuande's reinforcements have arrived!"
The cry surged outward from the south of Hanshou, rolling across the battlefield like waves.
Shamoke, already being pushed into a desperate position, clearly caught that shout.
He swung his iron staff to knock away Han Dang's long blade, twisted aside to avoid an axe strike from a personal guard, then hopped back to evade a hooked spear. Only then did he burst into laughter.
Seizing the opening, Shamoke bellowed with all his strength:
"Lord Xuande's reinforcements are here. Sons of the mountains, kill the enemy with me!"
Morale surged on one side and collapsed on the other. The faltering line steadied once more.
"Yigong, I will stop those reinforcements."
Pan Zhang demanded eagerly. Han Dang nodded once. Pan Zhang immediately turned and left, without the slightest hesitation.
During the earlier exchanges, Pan Zhang had already realized that his coordination with his personal troops was inferior to Han Dang's. Forcing himself into that fight would only disrupt Han Dang's rhythm of suppressing Shamoke.
Worse still, several of the barbarian soldiers near Shamoke had recognized Pan Zhang. They laughed and hurled insults at him mid-combat, enraging him to the point of madness. Yet he could not break through to silence them.
Now that reinforcements had arrived, someone had to deal with them. Pan Zhang seized the chance gladly.
Besides, even if Hanshou fell, Han Dang would take the lion's share of the credit. Pan Zhang knew full well that Han Dang disliked him and would never share glory.
Better to intercept the reinforcements and claim sole credit.
Hanshou was already surrounded. His share of merit would not disappear. And if he exaggerated the size of the enemy reinforcements in his report to Lord Sun, would his achievements not be secure?
Han Dang raised no objections. He simply nodded and lunged again at Shamoke, determined not to give the barbarian king even a moment's respite.
On the way south, Pan Zhang quickly learned the details.
"Only three thousand men?"
"Their leader calls himself Ma Zhong?"
Pan Zhang scratched his head. The name sounded oddly familiar.
Hanshou South was not far. When Pan Zhang saw a young general weaving through Jiangdong ranks like a roaming dragon, he laughed aloud.
"So this is the Ma Zhong," he sneered.
The Yi Province army advanced like the tip of a spear, and Ma Zhong was its point.
Because Ma Zhong had surged ahead first, Zhang Yi made no effort to compete. He stayed half a body-length behind, fighting alongside him.
Ma Zhong noticed these details and fought all the harder, reckless unto death.
Then it happened.
The blade he had been certain would land was smashed aside by a sudden strike from the flank.
"Ma Zhong. Have you forgotten your ancestral land?"
That mocking insult hit his ears. Even without looking up, Ma Zhong recognized the voice.
"Pan Zhang?"
The two collided. Soldiers nearby hurriedly cleared space. Zhang Ni, puzzled, halted behind Ma Zhong to observe.
Pan Zhang's face hardened.
"After all these years, you are still so ill-mannered. Address me as General Pan."
Ma Zhong shook his head.
"You do not call me General Ma. Why should I show you respect?"
Pan Zhang's brows twisted as he barked:
"Without my patronage, you would still be someone's slave. And today you dare forget your debt?"
As he spoke, Pan Zhang glanced at the infantry behind Ma Zhong. Strong, disciplined men. If he could command troops like these, dominating Jiangdong would no longer be a dream.
His fury faded into a pleasant smile.
"Ma Zhong, hear me well. Jingnan is about to fall. Cao Cao's armies press from the north. Guan Yu is doomed."
"Return to my command now, and riches beyond imagining will be yours."
That did it.
Ma Zhong exploded.
He surged forward, attacking in a frenzy that drove Pan Zhang back step by step, cursing as he struck:
"When I was in Jiangdong, I handed over all my wealth to you. How was that any different from slavery, and you still dare speak of riches ?"
"Sun and Liu were allies. When did my lord ever betray Lord Sun? It was Lord Sun who allied with traitors and launched a sneak attack."
"The sages said: all men die, but without trust a state cannot stand. Has Lord Sun not lost the faith of the world? Those around him dare not remonstrate and instead congratulate him. If Commander Zhou were alive to see this, how ashamed would he be?"
"And now you dare persuade me to surrender. That is no different from wolves inviting me into their den. You rats, what are you worth?"
Pan Zhang was furious beyond words, yet for a moment he could not refute a single line.
He could only roar:
"I will cut you down and see if that sharp tongue still serves you."
Ma Zhong answered instantly:
"Rat. I intend to hang your head at Jiangling so the whole world can see the face of a traitor."
Pan Zhang charged in a frenzy, abandoning all restraint. Everything since leaving Jiangdong had gone wrong, and now even a former subordinate dared defy him.
He wanted Ma Zhong dead.
But at the instant Pan Zhang lunged, Zhang Ni moved.
Born poor, Zhang Ni had always lived frugally. His clothes were patched, his food plain. He ate and lived with his soldiers, earning their deep loyalty.
This expedition to aid Jingnan was no exception. He had even changed armor during the attack on Quanling. Quiet by nature, he rarely spoke, so when he was silent, few realized he was the true commander of the force.
Pan Zhang assumed Ma Zhong was the leader.
He never guarded against the man beside him.
Warm droplets speckled the back of his hand, then turned cold as the wind swept past.
His chest felt the same. Warmth spread downward from his neck, oddly comfortable, chasing away the chill.
Pan Zhang tried to speak.
Only a hoarse, broken sound escaped.
He fell backward.
In that final, stretched-out moment before death, he saw the soldier who struck him. Calm, expressionless, utterly precise.
He saw hesitation flicker across Ma Zhong's face, then vanish as if it had never been.
He saw his personal guards, men who once drank and ate with him, staring in disbelief and stepping back.
Then the moment ended.
Before Pan Zhang could regret ever leaving Jiangdong, his consciousness vanished.
Zhang Ni did not hesitate. He stepped forward, seized Pan Zhang's hair, and cut off his head.
"The enemy general is slain. Jiangdong is defeated."
The Yi Province troops roared in unison. Confusion and fear bloomed across Jiangdong faces. For most of them, the will to fight was already gone.
News of Pan Zhang's death quickly reached Han Dang within Hanshou. Even the usually steady veteran was stunned.
"Only three thousand men. They could have been crushed."
"What madness drove Pan Zhang to charge them?"
The death of a commanding general struck morale like a hammer. Han Dang felt sick. He wanted nothing more than to retrieve Pan Zhang's corpse and whip it thirty times.
But it was too late.
Shamoke, overjoyed, surged forward aggressively.
"Come. Such a fine warrior. Fight me again."
Han Dang ignored him. He ordered his guards to block Shamoke, cast one last reluctant glance at the trembling yet unbroken Wuling defense line, and issued commands.
War drums sounded.
Reluctantly, Jiangdong forces withdrew from Hanshou.
In the north, Dong Xi, temporarily commanding Pan Zhang's troops by Han Dang's order, struggled to suppress the joy threatening to crack his grieving expression as he reinforced camp defenses.
The situation was clear. A general had fallen, but Han Dang, the true commander, remained. Enemy reinforcements numbered only a few thousand.
Overall, Jiangdong still held a slight advantage.
But one question gnawed at Dong Xi.
Where had such elite troops come from, advancing from the south?
He could not figure it out.
As Jiangdong withdrew, the Wuling forces could scarcely believe it. Half an hour earlier, they had been ready to die.
Now they lived, and had even gained the upper hand.
It felt like a dream.
After ordering the fallen collected, Shamoke left his weapon behind and personally went to greet the reinforcements.
Zhang Ni did the same.
Shamoke stood a full head taller and had to look down to speak.
"Zhang Ni, Separate Commandant under Lord Xuande, acting under orders of the Nanzhong Administrator, here to give aid."
Shamoke exhaled in relief and returned the salute.
"Shamoke, Magistrate of Hanshou."
After identities were exchanged, Zhang Ni made his first request.
"Is there somewhere in this city we can rest?"
A short while later, watching the once-fighting army sprawled across the drill ground, snoring thunderously, Shamoke was deeply moved.
"General Zhang. I will call you by your courtesy name."
"Brother Boqi, this march from Nanzhong to Hanshou. Few merchants would dare it even in peaceful times."
"To come so far in rescue. This is a great kindness."
The brief conversation had already told Shamoke where these men came from. He was awestruck and grateful.
They had barely rested the entire way. After a narrow victory, their first request was simply sleep.
Zhang Ni's face showed exhaustion, but leaving Yi Province to gain merit and saving fellow subjects of Lord Xuande was a rare and novel experience.
"Had Magistrate Sha not held fast, even arriving here would have availed us nothing."
"Tell me, what should we do next?"
Shamoke laughed and waved his hand, insisting Zhang Ni call him brother. Then he pondered.
"Earlier, before our scouts were driven back, they reported a naval force leaving Jiangling and heading downstream."
"Brother Boqi encountered no resistance heading north, so that fleet did not go to Yunmeng Marsh. It went further east. Something has changed in Jiangdong."
"Before, we lacked strength. Now that you have come, we may be able to lift the siege of Jiangling."
Shamoke was no master strategist, but after nearly thirty years in this land, its terrain and waterways were second nature.
And he saw clearly.
If Jiangling was relieved, Jing Province would be secure.