Chapter 85: The Lion Battalion Commander

Page 1 of 3

The last thing Liu Chengzong remembered about that battle was Red Banner running toward him while they were cleaning up the battlefield. He mounted his horse and immediately fell asleep. As to how he managed to follow the troop or ended up lying on a straw mat, he had no idea. He had never been so exhausted in his life.

No one disturbed him, and he had no sense of how much time had passed until the rumbling of his stomach finally woke him. The dim light around him revealed that he was in what seemed to be a temple. Inside, a Dragon King idol was enshrined. A few men had lit a campfire nearby and were chatting in hushed voices.

Meidianmei was curled up in his arms, while Little Whirlwind lay a short distance away, already awake and watching him, a bone clamped in its mouth.

"Master, you're awake?" Guo Zhasi entered from outside the temple, shirtless, his arm bandaged with clean cloth. Seeing Liu awake, he hurried out and soon returned with a bowl of water, then fetched some millet porridge, pickled vegetables, and rolled four flatbreads. "There's more food, but it's cold. Should I have someone heat it up?"

Liu waved a hand as he drank, mumbling, "No need, just bring it over—all of it. Where are we?"

The cold stir-fried pork with cucumber was brought over, and Liu found that wrapping it in flatbread and eating it was immensely satisfying.

Guo explained that this was Cao Yao’s hideout in the mountains. The day before, after Liu Chengzong had killed Zhang Xiong and left the battlefield, he fell asleep slumped over Red Banner’s back. The fighting and aftermath lasted until dusk.

Zhang Tianlin’s cavalry had joined the battle at dusk, trapping Zhang Xiong’s remnant forces on the western slope of Phoenix Mountain. They then attacked the two besieged strongholds north and south of Yan’an Prefecture.

Together, the two strongholds had only a little over thirty defenders. The northern stronghold surrendered at the first sign of danger, yielding a considerable stock of weapons and supplies. The southern stronghold's commander, however, was resolute and managed to preserve the last government outpost near Yan’an by paying five hundred taels of silver.

Guo continued, saying that the commander’s name was Yang Yanchang.

For two days, the situation in Yan’an was chaotic, and Yang Yanchang could no longer desert his post. The prefect, after hedging his bets during Liu’s revenge, had hidden in a neighboring house and only dared to emerge in the afternoon to restore order. Once the fighting outside the city ceased, he urgently summoned the southern stronghold’s commander into the city.

Thus, by sheer happenstance, Yang Yanchang became the acting commander of Yan’an Prefecture.

Yang Dingrui, as usual, had done nothing of consequence, but after the battle, he had the bright idea of sending Liu Chengzu out with the bodies of the government soldiers.

Page 2 of 3

After staging a mock battle with Commander Yang Yanchang, they left behind Wu Qianzong and dozens of bodies from the garrison before departing. They figured that this time, Yang Yanchang would surely be rewarded with a substantive officer’s commission—he might even become a company commander.

After eating, Liu Chengzong, now with something in his belly, finally felt alive again. Gasping for breath, he had Guo Zhasi help him sit up.

The previous day had been a relentless series of seven or eight battles from dawn till dusk. Today, his body was in shambles—his arms and legs felt like dead weights, every muscle ached, and he could barely lift his hands.

Yet his spirits were high. He asked, “So how many men do we have now? Do we have a thousand?”

Guo shook his head, not knowing the specifics. He propped Liu against the wall, then soon returned with Chengyun, who carried the roster.

This was someone who knew the details.

“Second Brother, you’re finally awake! You slept a whole day and night—you nearly scared us to death.” Liu Chengyun breathed a huge sigh of relief when he saw him. Grinning, he said, “Whatever you want to know, just ask.”

Too weary to stand, Liu sat back on his bedding and asked, “How many men are in the Lion Battalion now?”

“While you were sleeping, Second Uncle, Eldest Brother, and a few other leaders reorganized the ranks—don’t worry, it’s still according to your rules,” Chengyun replied with a grin. “Goodness, right now no one in all of Yan’an Prefecture dares to cross you. Do you know what the men are saying about you?

“They say the Second Young Master of the Liu family is a living Lu Bu—no one can withstand him in battle, and he can stand alone against a thousand.”

Chengyun’s lively retelling made Liu laugh until his head tipped back. “A living Lu Bu? That doesn’t sound so good. Forget the nicknames—just tell me, how are the ranks organized?”

“Third Brother Gao told Second Uncle the Lion Battalion’s structure. Then everyone scrambled to assign themselves to the various posts.

“Front scout captain is Arrow-Splitter Li Wanqing; rear scout captain is Uncle; center scout captain is Eldest Brother—he’d let no one else take it. Left scout captain was supposed to be Captain Cao, but he declined and gave it to Squad Leader Feng Rang. Right scout captain is Squad Leader Gao. Captain Cao said no one else knows a thing about artillery, so he insists on being artillery scout captain.”

Liu laughed, “So they all snatched up the captaincies, but do we really have three thousand men?”

“Don’t be impatient—I’m not finished. Also, Second Uncle, your Lion Battalion has a staff company, right? Second Uncle is now the staff company commander, and he got Mr. Yang to be his deputy.”

“What? My uncle, a staff company commander?” Liu was stunned. “What’s he going to do in that role? And Mr. Yang as deputy? Are they going to teach etiquette and letters?”

On reflection, Liu thought it wasn’t so bad—just not what he’d originally intended.

Page 3 of 3

In his mind, the staff company was supposed to be an eighty-man cadre formed from surrendered officers, dedicated to discussing strategy, training officers, and improving troop discipline. Apparently, in the old master’s mind, it had become a bandit’s private school.

As Chengyun spoke, he pointed to Guo Zhasi and then to himself, bowing playfully.

“Now only the logistics scout captain post is vacant. Brother Guo is the household guard captain, and me—this is a new post from Second Uncle—logistics scout captain, Liu Chengyun.”

Well then.

Liu Chengzong did the math in his head: each scout post had five hundred men, plus a hundred-man household guard and an eighty-man staff company. A full Lion Battalion would be over 4,100 strong.

He looked skeptically at Chengyun and Guo Zhasi. “You’ve filled all the captaincies, but do we really have that many soldiers?”

Chengyun opened the roster and replied crisply, “No. The front, rear, center, artillery, and logistics—seven posts in total—each are allotted seven hundred troops, but actually have only five hundred and forty, short by one hundred sixty.

“Auxiliaries are supposed to be 1,400, but we have only forty-four, missing 1,356.

“Logistics troops: 506 allotted, 420 present, lacking 86.

“As for the cavalry scouts and household guards, the whole battalion is allotted 1,100, but we have only two—Household Guard Captain Guo Zhasi and Deputy Han Lin.

“Oh, Han Lin is that old veteran who fought beside you in the city.”

That made Liu laugh. So, they had just over a thousand men.

That was a relief—he’d worried that if all eight posts were at full strength and four thousand men suddenly appeared, they’d run out of provisions in no time.

He chuckled, “You’ve claimed all the captaincies—what about me?”

“You? Your position is reserved.” Chengyun replied solemnly, “Commander of the Lion Battalion—Liu the Lion.

“All these captains and officers are only here because of you. If it wasn’t you as commander, Li Wanqing would leave with his men. If it was Li Wanqing, our family wouldn’t accept it.

“Besides, you’ve accomplished two great feats—storming Wang Zhuang Fort and breaking the Yan’an prison—both masterminded by you, and both successful.”

Chengyun’s smile faded, and he pressed his lips together. “But this isn’t an easy post. The biggest issue we face is right before us—what do we do next?

“When Eldest Brother and the two Yan Chuan leaders return, Second Brother, you’ll have to discuss with them: do we stay or go, do we fight or surrender?”