by Jin Yong
Zhou Botong was sitting on the beam; he had decided to get down, but was afraid Guo Jing might get hurt, so quietly he slid down the wall, stretching out both his hands arbitrarily, and by coincidence caught Ouyang Feng’s back.
Ouyang Feng was squatting on the ground, ready to strike Guo Jing with his fierce Toad Stance; suddenly he felt somebody on his back, hastily he sent his palms backward. Guo Jing seized this opportunity to kick Qiu Qianren then leap to the corner of the house, gasping for breath. If Zhou Botong were one step late, he would be injured by Ouyang Feng’s attack.
Four people in the pitch-black room clashed to each other then separated from each other. Sometimes Zhou Botong fought Qiu Qianren, sometimes Guo Jing fought Qiu Qianren, sometimes Ouyang Feng fought Qiu Qianren, sometimes Zhou Botong fought Ouyang Feng, and sometimes Guo Jing fought Zhou Botong. Four people engaged in this mixed-up fight, among them Zhou Botong was most excited; it was the most fun among all of his fights, of course he would not let this opportunity pass.
After fighting for a while an idea popped up in his head. “My two hands can be considered two people; Ouyang and Qiu are also two. See if you can fight four people at once. Have you ever tried this?” he asked Guo Jing.
Guo Jing did not hear what he said, but suddenly felt three people attack him at the same time; desperately he tried to block and evade. “Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid,” Zhou Botong encouraged him, “I will help you if you are in danger.” But in this dark room, as soon as somebody sent out a fist or a kick, his life would be in grave danger; how could Zhou Botong have time to help?
A dozen or so stances later Guo Jing was already dead-tired; he felt Ouyang and Qiu, two people’s fists were getting heavier and heavier, he was forced to step back one step after another. He wanted to jump up the beam to catch his breath, but Zhou Botong’s palms did not give him any slack. He was both alarmed and angry, finally he lost his patience, “Zhou Dage, you silly old man, why do you bother me?” but his words were drowned by the commotion outside, nobody heard him.
Guo Jing withdrew several more steps, suddenly his feet knocked the big rock on the ground; he nearly tumbled down. Before he had any chance to straighten up his waist, Qiu Qianren’s iron palm was ready to slap him down. In this dire situation Guo Jing did not lose his wit, swiftly he picked the big rock up and held it in front of his chest. Qiu Qianren’s palm hit the rock. Guo Jing focused his strength on his arms and pushed the rock forward to meet the attack. Suddenly he felt gust of wind coming from his left; Ouyang Feng’s palm had arrived. With a loud shout Guo Jing threw the big rock upward, while he jumped sideways to evade the attack.
The big rock flew through the roof; bricks and plasters fell down like rain. Immediately the stars in the sky above cast a dim light through the hole. Zhou Botong was angry, “Look what you did! Now we lost all the fun!”
Guo Jing was extremely exhausted; he kicked the ground and jumped out through the hole. Ouyang Feng hastily flew up to chase him. Zhou Botong shouted, “Don’t go! Don’t go! Stay here and play with me.” He stretched out his hand to grab Ouyang Feng’s left foot. Ouyang Feng was startled, quickly his right foot kicked, forcing Zhou Botong’s hand to let go; but as a result he could not jump and was forced to land back down.
Qiu Qianren did not wait for him to land, he sent out a kick toward Ouyang Feng’s chest. Ouyang Feng slightly pulled his chest back while stretching out his arm to grab Qiu Qianren’s ankle. Three people once again engaged in a fierce battle against each other. This time they could vaguely see each other’s shadow; while the battle noise outside was also gradually diminishing. The thrill of the fight decreased substantially.
Zhou Botong was upset, he lost his interest; he vented his disappointment toward these two people. His fist technique changed abruptly, he fought the two people with murderous intention.
After escaping from the house via the roof, Guo Jing saw the troops and horses running around swiftly; he could also hear the sound of clashing weapons in a distance. Oftentimes he heard heartrending groan and cry of soldiers wounded by blades or arrows. He dashed through these miserable people, running toward a small wood outside the village to lie down and take some rest.
He had fought fiercely for half a night, as he lay down, he felt his whole body, muscles and bones were aching, like they were going to crack. Recalling the fight inside that stone house, he shivered involuntarily. Although worried about Zhou Botong’s safety, but with his martial art level he knew even if he came back there he would not be able to help Zhou escape. Finally he closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep.
Early morning the next day he felt his face was wet and cold, something was wiggling around on his face. Startled he opened his eyes and leaped up, only to listen to a happy neighing sound. Turned out it was his little red horse licking his face. Guo Jing was delighted, immediately he hugged the horse’s neck; one man and one horse embraced in a joyful reunion.
When Guo Jing was held captive by Ouyang Feng, the red horse was let loose outside; it went grazing on the nearby prairie. During the fierce battle last night the horse utilized its swift legs to escape. When the soldiers were gone, the horse came back and found its master.
Guo Jing led the red horse returned to the village only to see broken bows and arrows everywhere, dead soldiers and horses scattered all around. Here and there he saw injured soldiers who were still alive, crying out pitifully. He had been in a lot of battles, he was accustomed to dead or wounded soldiers; but recalling his own life experience he could not refrain from feeling a great sorrow.
Quietly he returned to the stone building. Cocking his ears outside he tried to listen, but the house was quiet. He took a peek through a crack in the door and saw no one inside. He pushed the door open to see; but Zhou Botong, Ouyang Feng, and Qiu Qianren three people had already disappeared without ay trace.
He stared blankly for half a day then mounted his horse heading east. The little red horse ran very fast, very soon they caught up with Genghis Khan’s main army.
By this time Khoresm cities had either surrendered or been destroyed; hundreds of thousand warriors had fallen like broken tiles. Khoresm king, Muhammad, was a haughty tyrant; he was deserted by his friends and allies. He led the remnants of his defeated army desperately escape to the west. Genghis Khan assigned his senior generals, Subotai and Jebeh to lead twenty thousand soldiers to pursue to the west; while he led the main army went home to the east.
Eagle Shooting Hero 1143
Subotai and Jebeh pursued to the west of modern day city of Moscow, to the city of Kiev nearby the bank of Dnieper River. They crushed several hundred thousands of Russia and Kipchak alliance army; destroyed the city of Kiev and killed the Hertog [Grand Duke] of Kiev along with eleven princes by running a chariot over them. This war was called ‘The Battle of the Kalka River’. Since then the Russian prairie groaned under the Mongolian horses’ hoofs.
Muhammad went as far west as he could, finally he escaped to a deserted island on the Caspian Sea and died of illness there.
When suddenly Guo Jing disappeared at Samarkhand, Genghis Khan was very worried. He was afraid that Guo Jing somehow got killed in the chaotic battle without anybody knowing it. Seeing him return safe and sound he was really thrilled. Needless to say, Princess Huazheng was even more overjoyed.
Qiu Chuji followed the main army went back to the east. Along the way he was always giving advice to the Great Khan to love the people more and kill innocent civilians less. Although Genghis Khan did not necessarily agree with his view, he realized the Priest spoke reasonably, hence he did not argue too much. In the chaotic battles that followed, Qiu Chuji had succeeded in saving innumerable civilians’ lives.
Khoresm was located tens of thousands of ‘li’s from Mongolia; the return of Genghis Khan’s army to the east took a very long time. As soon as they arrived back home, he held a big feast to celebrate their victory by the bank of Onon River; while giving the injured soldiers time to recuperate. Qiu Chuji and his
disciples, along with Lu Youjiao and the rest of the Beggar Clan disciples took their leave and went back to the south.
Several months later Genghis Khan saw his warriors had eaten to their hearts’ contents, their horses galloped freely on the prairie; his interest to attack the south was rekindled. One day he held a general assembly to discuss strategies to defeat the Jin country.
Ever since Huang Rong’s death, Guo Jing was broken hearted; oftentimes he went riding alone with only his little red horse and his pair of eagles to keep him company, wandering the vast Mongolian prairie. Most of the time he would just stare blankly and not say anything for a few days. Princess Huazheng was always trying to speak warmly to him, but it seemed like he did not hear anything she said. Everybody knew his feelings, knew that he was grieving, so nobody dared to bring up the wedding plan; while Genghis Khan was busy preparing the expedition to the south and did not pay attention to this matter.
That day at the general assembly inside the Great Khan’s Golden Tent, many generals proposed various tactics and strategies to attack the south; yet Guo Jing did not utter a single word.
After dismissing his generals, Genghis Khan went to the top of a small hill and stayed there for half a day, to think of the actions he would take. The next day he dispatched his army to attack the Jins from three directions. At that moment his eldest son Jochi and his second son Chagatai were still busy consolidating their conquests in the west; therefore, he put the main army to take the Jins down under his third son, Ogedei; while the left flank was placed under the command of his fourth son, Tuolei, and the right flank was placed under Guo Jing’s command.
Genghis Khan summoned the three commander-in-chiefs privately; he even ordered his personal guards to leave the tent. To Ogedei, Tuolei and Guo Jing he said, “The Jins concentrate their defense in the city of Tongguan; the city is bordered on the south by a mountain and on the north by a river, it really is difficult to break. Numerous generals’ proposals all have some ground to them, but if we advance frontally, unavoidably we will waste a lot of time. Currently our Mongolia has formed an alliance with the Great Song; I think the best strategy would be advancing through the Song territory. From Tangzhou the army to proceed via Dengzhou straight to the Jin capital Daliang.”
As Ogedei, Tuolei and Guo Jing three people heard to this point, they jumped and hugged each other, loudly shouted, “Ingenious plan!”
Genghis Khan smiled and asked Guo Jing, “You are very good in battle strategy; truly a man after my own heart. Let me ask you, after attacking Daliang, then what?”
Guo Jing contemplated for a while then shook his head, “We are not attacking Daliang,” he said.
Ogedei and Tuolei clearly heard their father king said they were going to attack Daliang, why did Guo Jing say they were not going to? They were startled and looked at him with a questioning look. Genghis Khan still showed a faint smile on his face, “Not attacking Daliang, then what?” he asked.
“Not attacking is actually attacking; attack but do not attack, do not attack but attack,” Guo Jing said. He made Ogedei and Tuolei more confused than ever.
“Attack but do not attack, do not attack but attack [gong er bu gong, bu gong er gong],” Genghis Khan smiled, “These eight characters were very well said. Explain it to your two brothers.”
Guo Jing complied. “I can guess the Great Khan’s troops advancement method; we pretend to attack the Jin capital, destroying the enemy under the city wall. Daliang is where the Jin Emperor resides, but the troops stationed there are actually not too many. As soon as it is under attack, the Jins will immediately send troops from the neighboring city Tongguan to rescue. Chinese military strategist said, ‘A massive troops movement can’t be done in a day; traveling hundreds of ‘li’s is draining the energy and crippling the three generals. Strong at first, weary in the end. This is the eleventh method.’ By traveling fast for a hundred ‘li’s, the soldiers strength will be reduced to only 10% of their original strength. As they leave Tongguan and go to Daliang, the great distance is their biggest disadvantage; they should take ten rest stops, but can only take one instead. Even if they reach Daliang on time, they will be weary and unable to fight. Our troops simply have to wait for the exhausted enemy then we can easily destroy the Jin army. Once the strong Jin army is defeated, then Daliang will fall. If we concentrate on directly attacking Daliang, not only it will be difficult, but we can be attacked from both front and rear.”
Genghis Khan clapped his hands and laughed aloud, he called out, “Well said, well said!” He pulled a scroll out and spread it on the table. Three people looked at it and were greatly astonished. Turned out it was the map of Daliang and its neighboring area. On it were drawn routes of troop’s movement, both theirs and the enemy’s. It also contained strategies on how to attack the enemy’s rear flank, how to attack the enemy’s main body, how to lure and destroy the incoming enemies from Tongguan, how to make them weary and obliterate them outside the city wall; everything was just as Guo Jing had said.
Ogedei and Tuolei looked at their father king, also looked at Guo Jing with bewilderment and admiration on their face. Guo Jing’s heart was also full of admiration, he thought, “I learned the military strategy from the ‘Wumu Legacy’, nothing strange about it; but the Great Khan is illiterate, he possesses a natural ability for this kind of things.”
Genghis Khan continued, “In our expedition to the south this time, I am sure the Jins will be destroyed. I have here three embroidered pouches for each one of you. After Daliang falls, the three of you should gather inside the imperial palace of the Jin emperor; you can open them up and act accordingly.” Upon saying that he took those embroidered pouches from his pocket and gave one to each of them.
As Guo Jing received the pouch, he saw that the mouth was sealed with wax and the seal carried the image of Genghis Khan’s signet ring.
“Before entering Daliang, I forbid you to open the pouch without authorization,” Genghis Khan said, “Before you open them, I want the three of you to examine each other’s pouch to see if the seal is damaged.”
The three of them bowed and said, “Who dare to defy The Great Khan’s decree?”
Genghis Khan asked Guo Jing, “You are usually slow in dealing everyday affairs; but how come you are so resourceful in dealing with military strategy?” Guo Jin then told him how he studied the military strategy from the ‘Wumu Legacy’. Genghis Khan asked him the life story of Yue Fei. Guo Jing told him how Yue Fei scored a big victory over the Jins at the ‘zhu xian zhen’ [vermillion immortal small town]; that the Jins gave him a nickname, ‘Yue Yeye’ [grandfather Yue]; that they had a saying, ‘shaking a mountain is easy, shaking Yue’s army is difficult’; Guo Jing recounted everything.
Genghis Khan was silent, carrying his hands behind his back he paced back and forth inside his tent; sighing, “I regret I was not born a hundred years earlier to befriend this great hero. In this world today, who can be my rival?” His words carried a great loneliness.
As he was leaving the Golden Tent, Guo Jing remembered that in the past several days he had been busy with military business and did not spend as much time with his mother as he should. Since the next day he was going south leading the troops to avenge his country, the Great Song, against its archenemy, the Jin; today he wanted to spend as much time with his mother as he could. Hence he immediately headed toward his mother’s tent.
To his surprise, the tent was empty, all her clothes and other belongings were moved someplace else; only an old soldier stayed there on guard duty. He asked the soldier, and was told that the madam surnamed Li had received the Great Khan’s order to move to another tent. Guo Jing asked where the new tent was, and quickly walked over. He was surprised to see the tent was several times bigger than the one she used to live in. He lifted the curtain to enter, and he was even more surprised; the tent was full of gold, jade, and precious jewels, as well as fancy clothes and embroidery works; they were all the spoils of Mongolian army’s military expedit
ion.
Princess Huazheng was sitting next to Li Ping, listening to her story about Guo Jing’s childhood. As she saw Guo Jing enter, she smiled, stood up and greeted him.
“Ma [mother], where did all these things come from?” Guo Jing asked. 1146
“The Great Khan says you have rendered a great service in the west; therefore, he bestowed all of these for you to enjoy,” Li Ping answered. “Actually, we are simple people and have no use of these extravagances.”
Guo Jing nodded, he also saw there were more than eight maids attending to his mother’s needs; they were also captives that the troops seized.
After making some idle talk with Guo Jing and his mother for a while, Huazheng took her leave. She thought Guo Jing would leave for another long journey the next day, so he must have had a lot to talk about with her today. Who would have thought that after waiting outside the tent for half a day Guo Jing did not come out. Li Ping understood, she said, “Jing’er, Princess is waiting for you outside, you need to say goodbye to her.”
Guo Jing replied in affirmative, but did not budge from his chair. Li Ping sighed, “We have lived in this northern country for twenty years. Although we have received the Great Khan’s benevolence like we are part of his family, but actually I miss my hometown very much. I hope you can defeat the Jin country soon, so that we, mother and son, will be able to return to our hometown. We can live in the Ox Village, where your father’s home used to be. I know you are not greedy of fame and fortune, so you don’t need to go back north. Only this business with the Princess, I don’t know how to deal with; it is a really difficult matter.”
“Your son had early on told the Princess, that if Rong’er died, your son will never marry for the rest of my life,” Guo Jing said.
