Chapter 8: Chapter 7: Gao Ping (1)

In late February, with the preliminary preparations in Tokyo complete, Emperor Chai Rong officially embarked on a personal expedition. The accompanying army consisted primarily of the Imperial Guard—the Emperor’s personal bodyguard units and the various forces under the Palace Command.

The Xiaodi Army, in which Guo Shao served, was part of the Palace Command system and was, of course, required to depart with the main force.

The grand army marched out of the capital through the northern gates. Of the four gates in the north wall, the main force exited through Chenqiao Gate. As the troops marched along the main road, they were met by throngs of citizens offering food and drink—a grand spectacle of support for the military. The regular Zhou army maintained better discipline than the regional garrison forces, and from a broader perspective, they were credited with protecting the Zhou dynasty’s controlled territories from foreign plunder. However, due to a lack of effective propaganda and public sentiment, they were far from being so beloved that the people would weep at their departure. Most of the civilians lining the road were simply the families of the Imperial Guards.

The Imperial Guards, especially the units under the Palace Command, were stationed in the immediate vicinity of Tokyo, and their families lived there as well. With the soldiers heading off to war, their elderly and young kin were naturally filled with anxiety and concern, inevitably crowding the roadsides to bid tearful farewells.

The Emperor’s honor guard at the front was relatively crisp and orderly, but the units following behind were far less impressive. They carried so much gear that their ranks were chaotic; only their banners, armor, and weapons served as proof that they were an army at all.

Aside from grain and supplies, soldiers like Guo Shao carried a significant amount of gear, requiring a mule to bear the load. This did not even include the fifty-odd pounds of full-body armor he wore, the breastplate he had acquired earlier which weighed at least twenty pounds, his long and short weapons weighing another ten, or his iron pot, hammer, wood-chopping knife, and rations. Without a mule, he would have found the march incredibly grueling.

Ordinary soldiers did not have pack animals and were forced to carry fewer personal items. Yet, there was one thing about them that made Guo Shao envious: their families followed the ranks, offering instructions and food. As for Guo Shao, he scanned the crowd and did not recognize a single soul.

"My dear, don't rush to the front, stay a bit further back..." a woman shouted while walking alongside the troops. To Guo Shao’s surprise, the person who answered was Luo Mengzi, who was marching behind him. Guo Shao couldn't help but look back and say, "Luo Er’s wife certainly has a way with words."

He searched the crowd for a while longer, thinking to himself: *I have people who care if I live or die here too. Yulian should have come; perhaps there were just too many people and she couldn't find me, or maybe she was watching quietly from somewhere, too shy to come forward. Women are just so sentimental.* Thinking this, his heart felt a little lighter.

...

Many days later, the army reached Huaizhou. The Emperor, dissatisfied with the slow pace of the march, intended to issue an order for the entire army to accelerate and force-march. When Zhao Chao, the Commander of the Konghe Division, learned of this, he told his close friend Zheng Haoqian: "The invading enemy is too fierce; our army should not rush blindly ahead. A slower pace is safer." Zheng agreed with the Commander’s assessment and went to the Emperor to relay the advice. The result was that Emperor Chai Rong flew into a rage. Zheng had no choice but to betray his friend, claiming it was Zhao Chao who had said it.

Consequently, Zhao Chao was stripped of his military command and placed under arrest in Huaizhou.

Even though the army was already halfway there and Chai Rong had long since resolved to fight a battle in person, there were still many in the military who were not of one mind with him. Although he had ascended the throne smoothly, he had not yet fully consolidated control over the military due to the short time he had been in power. It was difficult to say whether he could effectively command not only the Imperial Guards but also the forces mobilized by the various regional military governors.

In this light, the Northern Han ruler had chosen his timing well. With the death of Zhou Taizu Guo Wei having occurred only recently, how much could his adopted son, Chai Rong, have accomplished in terms of consolidating power in just a month or two? The Northern Han ruler and the Khitan forces hoped to topple the vast Zhou dynasty with a force of over a hundred thousand, and their strategy hinged entirely on Chai Rong. If they could win one major, influential battle, Chai Rong’s position would become untenable, and the various regions of the Zhou dynasty might collapse without a fight.

Yet, Chai Rong seemed to be a monarch who refused to accept such fate, insisting on leading the expedition himself to test his strength against them. Until the Imperial Guards arrived in Huaizhou, it is likely that neither the Northern Han nor the Khitan believed Chai Rong would actually do such a thing.

Chai Rong’s actions were unexpected, but not entirely unreasonable. If he could successfully repel the invasion at this critical juncture, he could bypass many complications and directly establish the prestige needed to control the country. The risk was simply immense; it all depended on whether he possessed the necessary audacity.

How the upper echelons disagreed or what they planned had nothing to do with low-ranking officers. At Guo Shao’s level, he couldn't hear even a whisper of such things; almost all military orders came from the level of Commander Wang Degong. If the superiors told them to march, they marched; if they told them to stop, they stopped.

However, the expedition was a true test of the ordinary soldiers' stamina. Crossing from Henan to Shanxi—a distance that would be considered far even by modern train or car—the men were forced to sleep in the open and walk while heavily burdened. It wasn't just the infantry units like Guo Shao’s; even the cavalry were walking. Warhorses were precious, and they consumed far more food than men; unless they were in combat, the lower-ranking soldiers were reluctant to ride them.

In early March, the army finally marched into the territory of Shanxi (Hedong). Rumors had long been circulating that Li Jun, the Military Governor of Zhaoyi in Luzhou, had fought a battle and been defeated. This meant the Northern Han-Khitan coalition had at least bypassed Luzhou and penetrated deep into the southern regions of Shanxi. Thus, it would not be long before the Imperial Guards encountered the enemy.

*The sooner we fight, the sooner this is over!* Carrying dozens of pounds of gear across provinces was truly no ordinary hardship. It seemed that in any era, seeking a future was never easy.

...However, once they reached the battlefield, people would always realize with a jolt that carrying a heavy load while walking was actually the easier task.