Eastern Han Dynasty, not the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1250 Infiltrating Sword Pavilion to Deliver Messages

After Zhang Yan led the grain carts ahead, followed by Zhang Xiu and Jia Xu, and then the main force set off, sure enough, not two days later, in Jiangyou City, while Meng Da was patrolling the city, his personal guards reported: "General, Peng Yang, a confidant of Fei Guan, the garrison commander of Mianzhu Pass, has arrived, and he has also brought some grain and fodder."

Meng Da's heart skipped a beat, but he quickly regained his composure. Jia Xu had anticipated this and had already instructed him on his response. He went to the city gate to greet Peng Yang, who was leading more than ten carts of grain. He asked with concern, "General Meng, I've heard that the supply lines at the front are in trouble. Is there any news from General Ren Kui?"

Meng Da sighed, looking worried: "Alas, don't mention it. A few days ago, we were robbed by bandits, and many of our grain carts were damaged. General Ren Kui was afraid that Jiange would run out of food, so he personally escorted the remaining grain there. Before leaving, he told me to guard Jiangyou and wait for his news."

Upon hearing this, Peng Yang indeed had no suspicions and simply said, "I see. General Ren has truly worked hard. We will go back and report to Lord Fei Guan immediately, so that he can rest assured."

After seeing Peng Yang off, Meng Da watched their departing figures and secretly breathed a sigh of relief. This statement made the rear believe that Jiangyou was still under Ren Kui's control, further confirming the false impression of "bandit harassment".

Meanwhile, Zhang Yan's grain convoy had reached the outskirts of Jiange. That afternoon, as they were traveling along the mountain road, they suddenly heard the sound of carriages and horses ahead. It was a grain delivery team sent by Pang Yi, the prefect of Bazhou County, led by Pang Yi's confidant, Ma Han.

Meng Hong's eyes lit up, and he quickly spurred his horse forward, cupping his hands in greeting and saying with a smile, "General Ma, it's great to have met you!"

Ma Han reined in his horse and, seeing that it was a grain convoy from Jiangyou, asked in surprise, "General Meng? Why are you only arriving now? You should have arrived five days ago! General She Yuan is getting impatient waiting for you in Jiange."

Meng Hong sighed, "Don't even mention it. We were attacked by bandits on the way. We risked our lives to protect the provisions and escaped. We had to go back to reorganize the provisions, which delayed our journey by five days. General She is impatient, and I was worried about how to explain it to him. Luckily, we met General Ma. I hope you can say a few words for him to avoid making him angry."

Upon hearing this, Ma Han looked at him with sympathy: "Is that so? Don't worry, I'll definitely help you explain. We're traveling the same way, so we can go through the pass together."

Meng Hong was secretly delighted, but thanked them repeatedly. The two grain convoys joined together and slowly made their way towards Jiange Pass. Zhang Yan mingled in the group, and out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of the towering pass in the distance. The city walls of Jianmen Pass gleamed coldly in the setting sun, and the guards on the walls were faintly visible.

"We're almost there." Zhang Yan whispered to the Black Mountain Army leader beside her, "Pass down the order to proceed according to plan, and don't give anything away."

The leader nodded in agreement and quietly passed the message back. The grain carts rumbled along, carrying concealed swords, spears, and armor, and approached step by step the formidable pass known as "one man can hold the pass against ten thousand."

The city walls of Jiange soared into the clouds. The soldiers guarding the pass watched as two supply convoys slowly approached on the mountain road in the distance and shouted sternly, "Who goes there? State your names!"

Meng Hong reined in his horse in front of the grain convoy and announced, "I am Meng Hong, the escort officer from Jiangyou, here to deliver grain on the orders of General Ren Kui! Beside me is General Ma from Bazhou County, who is traveling with me!"

The garrison commander leaned forward for a closer look and saw that the flags of the two grain convoys were clearly distinguishable, but he still frowned and asked, "The grain carts from Bazhou County arrived on time, so why are yours from Jiangyou five days late? General Sheyuan has already asked twice!"

Meng Hong's face contorted with bitterness as he exclaimed, "General, you are unaware of our plight! When we set out from Jiangyou, we were robbed by bandits. We fought desperately to protect our provisions and retreated. It was only thanks to General Ren Kui's personal leadership in suppressing the bandits that we were able to retrieve our provisions. This caused a five-day delay, and it was truly a difficult journey!"

Ma Han, standing nearby, quickly chimed in, "Exactly! When we met outside the pass, General Meng was complaining to me about how difficult it is to escort grain supplies. Not only are we exhausted, but we also have to be wary of bandits. It's a miracle if we can deliver them safely!"

The garrison commander, hearing that the two men's accounts were consistent, did not ask any further questions: "You wait here, I will go and report to General She Yuan!"

On the city wall, the archer was watching the siege equipment below. Pang De and Zhang Ren's troops had been attacking fiercely for days, and although the walls had not yet been breached, the defenders were exhausted. Hearing that the supplies had arrived, his tightly furrowed brows relaxed slightly, and he asked the garrison commander, "Why are the grain carts from Jiangyou late?"

The garrison commander repeated Meng Hong and Ma Han's words, and added, "The two spoke earnestly, so it doesn't seem like they were lying."

She Yuan pondered for a moment, then waved his hand and said, "Alright, let them in first. The siege has been intense these past two days, and we're short-handed. Tell them not to rush back after unloading the supplies, but to stay and assist in defending the city. Once the brothers have taken their turns to rest, then let them go."

The garrison commander received the order and left, relaying the command: "General She Yuan has ordered that the supply convoy enter the city! After unloading the supplies, everyone else stays to assist in the defense of the city!"

Upon hearing this, Ma Han's face turned pale. He was just a transport officer; how could he have ever witnessed the dangers of defending a city? If the city fell, wouldn't he have just given his life in vain? But military orders were absolute, and he could only grit his teeth and agree. In his heart, he cursed Meng Hong a thousand times over. If it weren't for the delay caused by the transport, how could they have arrived together? The combined strength of the two sides transporting grain and fodder was about three or four thousand, which caught the attention of the commander.

Meng Hong remained calm, secretly glancing at Zhang Yan, who was mixed among the grain transport soldiers. A glint of wild joy flashed in Zhang Yan's eyes. He was just worried about how to place people in the city walls, and now the reinforcements had actually offered to let them guard the city. This was simply a godsend! He nodded slightly, signaling Meng Hong to proceed with the plan.

The grain carts slowly drove into the gate, passed through the narrow passageway, and arrived at the open space inside the gate. Meng Hong directed the "grain escort soldiers" to unload the grain, while Zhang Yan quietly observed the defenses of the gate wall.

After unloading the supplies, the garrison commander indeed selected Meng Hong, Ma Han, and two detachments of supply soldiers, assigning them to the east and west city towers to assist in the defense. Meng Hong led his men up the west city tower, feigning familiarization with the defenses, but his eyes quickly swept over the arrow towers, the piles of rolling stones, and the garrison's deployment on the city wall, secretly memorizing the information. He would find a way to pass this information on to Pang De and Zhang Ren outside the city tonight.

Zhang Yan mingled among the soldiers on the north gate tower, carrying arrowheads while keeping an eye out for weak points in the gate wall. He reached the edge of the crenellations, gazing at the dark mass of the Xiliang army camp outside the city, a cold smile playing on his lips. Before long, Jianmen Pass would change hands.

Ma Han huddled in a corner, trembling with fear as he watched the arrows that kept flying in from outside the city. He had no mind to care about anything else; he just hoped that the days of defending the city would pass quickly so that he could return to Bazhou alive.

As the sun set, it cast long shadows over Jiange Pass. On the walls, the defending troops and the "supply soldiers" mingled together, seemingly calm, but in reality, a turbulent undercurrent was brewing.

The night was as dark as ink, and the labor camp within Jianmen Pass was deathly silent, broken only occasionally by the rustling of armor plates on patrolling soldiers. Under the cover of darkness, Meng Hong and Zhang Yan quietly slipped back into their tent and found Jia Xu sitting on a haystack, his coarse cook's clothes stained with oil, a rag clutched in his hand. During the day, he had indeed been assigned to do odd jobs in the kitchen, and no one had noticed him.

"Sir." Meng Hong stepped forward and skillfully massaged Jia Xu's back, whispering, "Today we'll be assigned to guard the south gate, and General Zhang will be guarding the north gate."

Jia Xu's eyes lit up, and he threw away the rag: "Good! The South Gate is the route we take into the pass, and we know the terrain well." He took out the half-burnt charcoal pencil hidden in his bosom and quickly scribbled on the torn linen cloth. "I'll write three secret letters. Tomorrow, you must find a way to shoot them at Pang De, Zhang Ren, and Zhang Xiu. In the letters, explain that we have infiltrated the pass, that there are our men among the garrison, and that they should wait until we have made all the necessary arrangements. Then we will light a fire on the city wall as a signal, and they will attack the city directly while we secretly open the city gates."

Zhang Yan frowned: "But the city walls are heavily guarded, and firing arrows rashly might be detected."

"We need to find an opportunity." Jia Xu rolled up the secret letter he had written into a thin scroll. "Hollow out the arrow shaft, stuff the letter into the arrow shaft, and shoot it so that it will be silent and fall into the enemy camp. While they are attacking the city, find those generals to shoot it. Otherwise, the soldiers will not be able to figure out the secret. You two each take a few arrows and act according to the situation."

Meng Hong looked shocked and said, "To shoot an arrow at one's own people, one must be a military officer?"

Jia Xu said with a gloomy expression, "Do you know how much we paid for sneaking across Yinping? What is a little arrow wound compared to the great cause of the King of Liang?"

Meng Hong dared not say more. The three discussed until midnight before lying down fully clothed. The wind outside the tent blew through the stockade, carrying the chill of the gate. Zhang Yan clutched the arrow shaft with the secret letter hidden inside, hoping that dawn would break soon.

The next day, just as dawn was breaking, bugles sounded from below the pass, and Pang De and Zhang Ren's troops attacked the city again. Arrows rained down on the city walls like locusts, stones and logs rolled down the walls, and the shouts of battle were deafening.

Meng Hong, atop the south gate, feigned moving stones while keeping a close eye on the Xiliang army formation below. Zhang Yan, at the north gate, would glance at Zhang Ren's banner between archery practiced. However, the fighting was intense, with arrows flying back and forth, making it impossible to find an opportunity to fire a signal salvo alone.

"This can't go on." Zhang Yan was extremely anxious. She saw the soldiers beside her throwing fire pots down from the city wall, and a group of Xiliang daredevils, led by a military officer, were climbing ladders and rushing up the wall.

"You're courting death!" Zhang Yan shouted deliberately, drew his bow and nocked an arrow. The first arrow missed, grazing the general's scalp; the second arrow also missed by half a foot; the third arrow finally "hit" the general's arm.

The young general was climbing the ladder when he grunted and tumbled down. Gritting his teeth, he snapped the arrow shaft in two, intending to charge again, but discovered that the broken part of the shaft was hollow, containing a roll of burlap, which he had already cut in two. Without making a sound, he tucked the secret letter into his pocket, picked up the broken arrow from the ground, and pretended to be seriously injured, being dragged away by his comrades to be bandaged.

The battle raged fiercely below the city walls. Zhang Ren, spear in hand, was directing his soldiers to set up siege ladders when he suddenly saw General Zhang Qiang stumbling down from the city wall, clutching his arm. He quickly shouted, "Quickly, help Zhang Qiang over here!"

Just as the guards were about to take the man to the military doctor's tent, Zhang Qiang suddenly broke free and staggered to Zhang Ren's side. His face was pale from blood loss, but his eyes were unusually bright.

Seeing that his injuries did not seem serious, Zhang Ren frowned and said, "Zhang Qiang, you have fought alongside me for many years and have always been brave and fierce. Why did you back down in the face of battle today?"

Zhang Qiang knelt down with a thud and said urgently, "General, please calm down! It's not that I'm afraid of death, but there's something strange about this arrow shaft!" He then took out the half-roll of blood-stained hemp cloth from his bosom and pulled out half of the hollowed-out arrow shaft. "I was hit by a stray arrow from the city wall just now. At first, I didn't notice it, but when I pulled out the arrow, I felt that the shaft was hollow and this was hidden inside! That's when I realized that the three arrows shot at me in a row were obviously intentionally let off by the generals on the city wall."

Zhang Ren's heart stirred. He took the hemp cloth and unfolded it. Although the handwriting on it was messy, it revealed a familiar style of writing—it was Jia Xu's handwriting!

"Good! Good!" Zhang Ren slapped his thigh and laughed loudly after reading it. "Jia Xu really infiltrated! The journey through Yinping Road wasn't in vain!"

He quickly helped Zhang Qiang up, patted him on the shoulder and said, "Go down and get bandaged! You deserved that arrow wound. Although you didn't make it to the top of the city wall, you've done a great service!"

Zhang Qiang thanked him and then followed the guards to the medical tent. Zhang Ren immediately gave the order: "Sound the retreat!"

As the bugle sounded, the attacking Xiliang army retreated like a tide, and the shouts of battle on the city walls gradually subsided.

Zhang Yan, standing atop the city wall, squinted and stared for a long time. Although she couldn't see the details below the city wall clearly, she saw that the Xiliang army had indeed retreated. Her heart, which had been hanging in suspense, finally settled down, and she quietly wiped the sweat from her forehead.