Compromised

As they were in hostile territory, nobody had removed their armour, even to sleep. Furthermore, each person made sure their weapons were within arms' reach.

In the dead of the night, the sound of shouting, the clunking of heavy footsteps and the rattling of armour rang out ceaselessly.

"Sun Tao, Wu Wen, old third, stay here. Stay alert. Second, follow me." Wuxian ordered. 

"Aye." They chorused, hastening to prepare for a potential ambush.

He left his spear leaning against the wall and grabbed a spare sword instead. Within the narrow confines of the guesthouse, the length of a spear was a hindrance rather than an advantage.

Exiting the guest room, Wuxian noticed that every man was active, taking positions behind the walls, by the door frames and beside the windows. He spotted Li Dong standing in the centre of the main room, pointing and giving orders. Wuxian and Mian Ji strode over.

"Li Dong, what's going on?" Wuxian asked briskly.

"One of the captives began screaming. I'm not sure what's happening upstairs- Li Qian went to sort that out. We're currently preparing to defend against an ambush in case of an attack." The man replied, licking his dry lips.

"How do we know there's an ambush?"

"Well that's the thing- we're not completely sure. I think the shouting and screaming has gotten everyone shook. Now they think the entire Qin army is half a li away!" He grumbled.

Wuxian frowned. "I'll go upstairs and see what's going on."

Li Dong nodded, unfastening the water skin on his belt.

Wuxian went over to the staircase, Mian Ji just behind. Their boots thudded heavily against the wooden floor.

"I think the scream I heard came from the woman. Do you think that maybe…" Mian Ji questioned.

"I don't know." 

As they reached the top of the staircase, Wuxian saw Li Qian standing outside one of the captives' rooms. The door had been smashed in, shards of wood scattering the ground.

"Li Qian, what happened?" Wuxian asked, moving behind him to look into the room.

Mian Ji leaned to the side to try and get a good view as well. The couple had originally been placed together within the same room. The woman must have screamed in fear when the guards knocked the door down.

Li Qian shook his head. "The man escaped."

"How?"

"He bashed open the window and jumped down to the ground floor. Our lookouts all ran inside to investigate the noise, allowing him to leave unpursued." Li Qian explained with a grim look.

Wuxian realised that they were in big trouble.

"We were ordered to kill all witnesses, but not only did we not do that, we even let one escape. Now he's probably going to alert the local garrison."

Mian Ji had a shocked expression on his face upon hearing this.

"What do you mean 'kill all witnesses'?!" He exclaimed.

"The captain ordered us to kill anyone who saw us to prevent them from alerting the authorities. I assumed that keeping them locked up would be enough." Wuxian explained.

"It seems that our actions have come back to bite us." Li Qian mused, as if unaffected by the incident.

"Anyway, we can't stay here now. We're putting ourselves and the main column at risk- or more than we already have." Wuxian thought aloud.

Li Qian nodded in agreement. "Let's tie the remaining civilians up. They'll be able to survive without food or water for long enough until we're well out of the area."

Wuxian was still reluctant to kill innocents and agreed easily. "Let's discuss with Li Dong to work out our next move."

The three went back downstairs, notifying two of the guards to tie up the prisoners. By this time, the guesthouse was almost entirely still, with each militiaman holding his weapon tightly.

They found Li Dong crouched behind a pillar, eyes shifting to each window at regular intervals.

As Wuxian laid his hand on Li Dong's shoulder, the latter jumped in fright.

"W-Wuxian, what's the matter?"

Though his reaction was amusing, there was no time for merrymaking.

"Li Dong, one of the captives escaped through the window. We have to move, now."

It took a few moments for the words to sink in. Li Dong seemed to hold back his questions, merely nodding instead.

"We should let the main force know that we've been detected." He suggested.

Li Qian and Wuxian nodded. "Should we send one from each squad then? To make sure the messenger doesn't desert," asked Li Qian.

"We should also fabricate the reason for our discovery. Let's say that the owners of the guesthouse ran away and we couldn't catch up to them because of our armour." Li Dong added, eager to avoid punishment for disobeying the captain's orders.

"Their family has two elders. How exactly are they supposed to outrun us?" Li Qian criticised.

"Just say that they ditched the two elders. We should set the woman and the kids free to match the story." Li Dong replied.

"Okay, that's sorted. About our next course of action- where should we move our unit to? I imagine the garrison will do a wide sweep and also alert the court about our presence." Wuxian asked.

The three thought for a moment, before Li Dong spoke up.

"Why don't we just regroup with the main force? The captain said that we have the strength to match the garrison, won't there be safety in numbers?"

Li Qian shook his head vehemently. "Our regiment has been scattered into various raiding forces. The time it'd take for us to return to the captain and for him to recall all the other parties would be too long. With our strength decentralised, it'll be easy for the Qin garrison to take us down one by one."

Wuxian scratched his chin. "Then we should buy them time to regroup?"

Li Qian and Li Dong looked at him with serious expressions.

"It is highly likely we would all die that way." Li Qian warned.

They fell into silence.

"Glory and honour are aplenty in the van." Wuxian muttered with self-mockery.

Without any further discussion, it seemed that all three lieutenants had unanimously decided on a course of action.

"There's a gorge nearby- it's close to a small trading post that my father visited often before the war." Wuxian said.

"Let's get to work then, gentlemen." Li Qian said, dusting himself off.

———

Wu Wen and the other two selected to carry the message gave a resolute salute to Wuxian and the other two lieutenants. 

The boy's eyes were red, desperately holding back emotions as he looked at the men before him. Despite only knowing them for a month, some even less than that, he felt closer to them than he did many of his childhood friends.

Furthermore, the opportunity to escape the battlefield must have been so enticing to everyone, but the comrades in his squad all elected Wu Wen without a second thought.

Sun Tao even chuckled and said, "I've always longed for a warrior's death, heh. It always felt wrong to have all those youngsters die while I'm still alive and kicking."

Mian Ji had tried to say something pretentious like, "sometimes, the most courageous move to make is the easiest one," only to be cut off midway by Xiao Chong who kicked him in the back of the leg.

Xiao Chong had slung his arm over Wu Wen's shoulders, telling him to do a whole bunch of things in remembrance of him if he did not make it out alive.

The lieutenant, Sihai Wuxian, had merely nodded and given him a pat on the back as they left the guesthouse. 

Back to the present.

The men all returned the salutes, before both parties parted ways. Some of the men had red eyes, clearly wishing to desert on the spot.

But perhaps the spirit of collective sacrifice prevented them from ditching their comrades just like that.

And by the time the sun rose, the militia, tired and weary, made it to the gorge.

———

The three squads gathered together in a densely covered area. Wuxian stood on a large rock.

"With just the twelve of us, how can we go up against Qin's garrison to stall for time and come out alive?" He asked rhetorically.

He received uncertain looks. 

"The short answer is: we cannot. According to our information, the garrison consists of two regiments of peasant militia. That's up to five hundred men, including elites.

Not only that, but even their ordinary infantrymen are better equipped and trained than us, each having undergone at least one year of mandatory military training."

Wuxian paused for dramatic effect.

"But we do not have to fight their garrison- at least, not entirely and certainly not fairly either. The plan is simple. We'll send people to the nearby trading post to act as civilians.

They'll spread information about a small raiding force of ten men coming towards the settlement, visiting each tea house to spread rumours. This way, we'll alert the garrison."

Xiao Chong raised his hand cooperatively. Wuxian nodded in his direction.

"Why ten men? Why not say we only have two or three?"

"Because two or three are not a threat. Two or three soldiers are merely a bunch of thugs that the garrison won't bother to deploy against. A coordinated force of ten men is a legitimate threat towards the safety of the post."

Wuxian then returned to the plan.

"Now, we can't accurately predict exactly how many men they'll send, but it is unlikely they'll send a force of one hundred to deal with ten. Even if there are fifty of them, we'll still have a chance.

Using the terrain and our predetermined ambush, we'll launch a shock attack from all angles and rout their units.

From then on our plan of action will vary depending on the situation. If we've taken few casualties, we'll continue with the plan in a different location. If not, then we can return to the main force.

Remember, it'll take time for the rumours to spread and for the garrison to deploy, let alone arrive here. Even a single battle can buy enough time for the majority of our invading force to re-consolidate."

Wuxian then stepped down, allowing Li Qian to take his place.

"The job of spreading rumours is incomparably crucial to the success of this plan. We will select two trustworthy people to take on this role. Not only are they expected to run unarmed or armoured to the trading post, they need to return in time to assist us in the battle."

A wave of unrest made its way across the sparse number of soldiers present. This role was undoubtedly the dream job for the disloyal.

Not only could they retreat and start a new life under the prosperous state of Qin, they might be able to earn merit by selling out their former comrades to the garrison. 

"But we will not ask you to work in vain. Those who return having successfully completed their task will receive the joint recommendation of us three to be directly promoted to lieutenant and instantly receive one year's salary once we return."

In truth, Li Qian and the others did not have any confidence in this promise. Not only did they have no standing in the army, they also didn't have the ability to provide these sorts of benefits as lieutenants. Only the captain or someone else of a higher rank could.

However, they needed to use any method possible to succeed.

After some discussion, the two people were selected. At the start of the second hour, having had no sleep nor rest, Mian Ji and Xiao Chong stowed their weapons and armour behind some foliage. They shed their uniforms, instantly becoming frail and exhausted civilians.

It would take several hours to run to the trading post and back, so they left as early as possible.

After briefly surveying the terrain, the lieutenants decided upon their deployment of men.

Li Qian's men would act as scouts. They mostly wore cloth armour and so could run the fastest and could move quietly amongst the brush. Their main job was to alert the others when they spotted any activity from either end of the gorge.

Li Dong's men were heavily armoured overall. Their job was to blockade the enemy force once they entered the gorge.

Sihai Wuxian's men were the most varied. They would be split into two pairs, on either side of the gorge, ready to hurl down debris to hopefully kill or incapacitate as many Qin soldiers as possible. Of course, Mian Ji and Xiao Chong were both 'running errands', so for the moment it was just Wuxian and Sun Tao.

And now, all they had to do was wait.