Dawn of the Empire

Chapter 13: The Wounded

For border garrisons teeming with Di Yi, whether on a military campaign or a hunting expedition, the most difficult decision after battle was always how to handle the wounded. If they were Han Chinese, there was no question about it: they had to be brought back, dead or alive. Even if they were maimed, as long as their performance on the battlefield wasn’t particularly poor, the Empire and the army would always provide them with a secure home where they wouldn’t have to worry about food or shelter. But what about the lowly commoners—or even the Di Yi slaves? Bringing them back would mean they’d starve to death if they couldn’t perform heavy labor. And what could the disabled do once they returned to their villages? For disabled Di Yi slaves, many Han officers chose to abandon them—or even kill them outright. Normally, whichever choice was made wouldn’t have been an issue—after all, those in authority wouldn’t deign to question it, and those below dared not challenge their decisions. But this time was somewhat different. After all, Huang Qianzong had launched the attack on his own initiative, and the wounded were all slaves brought from their respective villages who had fought bravely on the battlefield. The idea of “using them and then discarding them” pained men like Huang Dexia and Liu Chenyong, who viewed the Di Yi as the key to their promotions—if they acted this way now, who would dare to fight to the death the next time they went out? There were also those who couldn’t care less, such as Song Wenmu. He didn’t care how many Di Yi were killed, nor did he care whose slaves were killed. In any case, he had no interest whatsoever in hunting or fighting. In his view, if something seemed amiss, they should simply report it to the regular troops of the Lingxi Circuit. If it weren’t for Huang Qianzong’s military order, he wouldn’t have participated in this operation—which was called “reconnaissance” but was, in reality, nothing more than looting and hunting. As for the wounded Di Yi slaves, none of them were running a charity; who had surplus grain to feed the disabled? Just leave them behind. Song Wenmu was certainly not the only one who thought this way. In fact, Huang Qianzong felt that among all eight platoons, aside from Liu Chenyong—who, out of concern for troop morale, was unwilling to abandon the wounded—the attitudes of the others were either identical to Song Wenmu’s or very ambiguous (such as the newcomer Ou Yang and Wang Hongguang, who had formally married a Di woman). Liu Chenyong himself knew that he and Huang Qianzong were somewhat isolated in their stance on this matter, which was why he had used a pretext to vent his frustration and avoid the issue. While he could sidestep the issue, the Thousand-Captain in charge of the entire operation could not. Huang Dexia said with a grim expression, “There are twenty-six wounded—several in each unit and at the Thousand-Captain’s headquarters. These men…” “Hand them over to me.” As soon as those words were spoken, everyone stared at Ou Yang in shock. Many of these wounded were already practically crippled; keeping them around would be a waste of rations. Even Huang Qianzong, his immediate superior, knew he couldn’t force all the platoon leaders to keep these men. Ouyang, oblivious to the reaction, continued, “I’ve studied a bit of medicine. Whether they live or die is up to fate.” Song Wenmu’s mouth gaped wide enough to fit an egg. He exclaimed in astonishment, “These Di Yi barbarians are already useless…” “I still have some half-able-bodied men in my village. They may not be fit for other tasks, but they can certainly train that bunch of half-grown brats. Besides, the next time we go out to fight, these men can help defend the fortress walls.” ” Ou Yang pondered for a moment, then turned to Huang Qianzong and said, “This situation is clearly abnormal. How could a Di-Qiang tribe have so many able-bodied men from other ethnic groups? Takurai’s tribe has dealt with this one for a very long time—why didn’t he know this tribe actually had over two hundred able-bodied men? And the fortification walls—who gave them the audacity to build them so close to us? Do they want to die even faster? That lion is even stranger. I’ve seen a few Tiger Qiang before, but how did a Lion Qiang end up here? And he’s even wearing armor!” Huang Qianzong finally recalled the reason Ou Yang had originally used to persuade him to rally his men for the campaign: “Qiubing, are you talking about the Westerners?” “That’s right, but now it seems they aren’t Western Barbarians…” Ou Yang pointed to the pile of severed heads waiting to be registered for credit, saying, “…they’re Xidi. If one group can come, a second and a tenth can follow. Even if they don’t come, when has our empire ever changed its nature to take a beating without striking back? At the very least, we must thoroughly purge the nearby Sheng Di tribes to prevent them from being exploited by the Xidi. The region west of the mountain range is unlikely to remain peaceful from now on, so we must prepare early. Having a few more able-bodied men—even if they’re disabled—will at least allow us to guard the fort gates, which will strengthen our mobilization capabilities. This time, we barely fielded thirty or so auxiliary troops per unit; we weren’t much stronger than the Shengdi tribesmen, which was far too dangerous. Good luck won’t always be on our side; in the future, we’ll need to field more men and let our hard power do the talking.” Perhaps to vent the tension and fear brought on by his first real battle, Ou Yang rambled on without restraint, pouring out all his thoughts. But the logic was sound. The Empire’s morale was sky-high right now. Calling the Di and Yi “beasts” naturally came with the strength to back up such insults. Westerners—whether Di or Yi—had actually dared to reach across the Empire’s borders. If they weren’t struck back hard, word of this might spread, and several of the chancellors might well be ousted from office. “If it really is Xidi spying on the Empire’s borders, this operation could at the very least earn us credit for effective reconnaissance.” With Ou Yang’s reminder, a thought crossed everyone’s mind: “Whether they come again or we go on the offensive, as long as fighting breaks out, there will be plenty of opportunities to earn merit—we might even have a chance at being enfeoffed with a title.” Huang Qianzong suddenly realized that with just over twenty wounded and disabled Di Yi, even providing for their retirement wouldn’t be a loss. After all, giving each of them two or three shi of third-grade mixed grains per year would be enough to make them grateful to the point of tears. Ou Yang concluded, “Huang Qianzong, you promised me beforehand that I’d receive half of what’s taken from the public funds. Let’s settle the debt with these wounded men.” He had to offer some immediate benefit; the wounded belonged to their respective military units—whether they were killed or abandoned was someone else’s concern. Taking what others didn’t want back to his own household required some compensation. Ou Yang could say this, but Huang Qianzong could not act on it. Setting aside the influential teachers and classmates behind a proper scholar, even as a mere subordinate in a village unit, such blatant extortion would only ruin his own reputation. “Why do you say that, Qubing? This operation was ordered by me, so naturally I will handle all the aftermath,” Huang Qianzong said with a smile. “I’ll take all the wounded with me. For every wounded soldier each unit has, I’ll compensate them with an equivalent number of able-bodied men.” “As for the wounded from the 7th Unit, our unit will take good care of them ourselves.” Song Wenmu, too, now showed magnanimity. After all, if Ou Yang’s speculation was correct, a major battle was about to erupt here. War was not like their petty raids; once military operations began, the interior would inevitably provide massive military and material support to Lingxi Road, the frontline. As officers stationed within the road, they naturally had the advantage of proximity—at this critical moment, every additional able-bodied man served as a good excuse to request supplies from higher-ups. Moreover, none of them were fools. If war were to break out, they could no longer ignore the morale of their conscripted soldiers as they had in the past. Only by taking good care of their own wounded could they hope to have men willing to fight to the death for them next time. This was a matter of great importance—one involving military merits and noble titles—and could not be taken lightly. All the armored officers declared that they would take their own wounded back with them to care for them properly. They stood there on the steps in front of the log cabin discussing this, making no attempt to hide their conversation from the crowd. The wounded barbarians, who had originally believed they were doomed to die, were naturally moved to tears with gratitude; even the uninjured barbarians felt they now had a sense of security unlike anything they’d ever known. In truth, the barbarians themselves did not see anything wrong with abandoning the severely wounded. Back in their homeland, “survival of the fittest” was an ironclad rule. Except for true nobles, warriors who were injured and unable to return to battle could not receive any official compensation. Even with their closest family—for example, if a son was still young, the father would naturally be unable to raise him, so his wife, concubines, and children would be taken care of by others; if the son was already grown, one would have to consider whether the sons were eager to divide up his meager inheritance of cattle and sheep. However, since their Han masters felt there was still value in keeping these disabled men around, they were naturally pleased. After all, no one could confidently claim they would never suffer a serious injury. “Since each unit needs its own men,” Huang Qianzong ordered, “each unit will be responsible for treating its own injuries. The clerk just found quite a few medicinal herbs in the village; though they aren’t top-quality, they’re better than nothing. Each unit should make preparations. We’ll spend the night here tonight and return to the army by noon tomorrow.”