Chương 38: A Cage of Ink

The thick canvas flaps of the supply wagon parted, letting in a sliver of light from the outside. Chae-ha climbed through the opening, her jade robes still heavy with mud, and took a seat on a crate across from the bound officer. Lieutenant Shin glared at her, his eyes burning with a mixture of confusion and raw fury. He struggled weakly against the ropes binding his wrists.

"There's no point in trying anything. We're surrounded by guards," Chae-ha said calmly, pulling a small, borrowed knife from her sleeve. She leaned forwards and cleanly sliced the cords binding his hands and feet.

"I suppose I should apologize for the headache…but given that you still have your head, I think we can call it even." Shin rubbed his raw wrists, his voice a dangerous hiss.

"You committed mutiny, you little brat. If this wagon wasn't surrounded by your so-called 'elites,' I would throttle you myself. But it doesn't matter – I may still get my chance. When Commander Mok hears what you did, he's going to have you executed. And I will gladly volunteer to swing the sword."

"You could certainly tell him," Chae-ha agreed, sitting back down and resting her hands in her lap.

"But it might not play out exactly as you think. Are you sure you want to stand up in front of your commanding officer, and tell him that a fifteen-year-old girl knocked you out, tied you up like a pig meant for roasting, and stole your command out from under you? All to execute a retreat that you were too stubborn to order?" Lieutenant Shin's jaw snapped shut. The red flush of anger in his cheeks deepened as profound humiliation joined the emotional stew.

"Is that really the legacy you want, Lieutenant? Because if you tell the truth, your career ends along with those words. If not by execution, then by permanent disgrace."

"I'm a soldier," he growled.

"I'll take what's coming to me. Especially if it means I get to bring you lot down with me."

"It doesn't have to be that way. There's a better option, for both of us." Shin shook his head in disbelief, before narrowing his eyes.

"What are you talking about?"

"We are about to return to a very angry Commander Mok. He is going to demand a scapegoat for the loss of the Iron Creek junction. I am offering to hand him one that isn't you." Chae-ha leaned forwards and lowered her voice to a whisper.

"When we arrive, I will write an official report that states a Meng-shan assassin slipped through the woods in the rain and struck you from behind. With you incapacitated, the line collapsed. Seeing the danger, General Eom Tae-seok took emergency command and ordered the retreat to preserve the troops. The Young Master helped to amplify his commands, while fighting to cover the rear." Lieutenant Shin blinked. Why did that story have to make so much sense?

"Why would you do that? You're giving Elder Eom all the blame for the retreat – and giving the Young Master all the glory for saving the men."

"Because the Young Master needs the glory, and Elder Eom has the prestige to survive Mok's anger," Chae-ha replied.

"And you, Lieutenant, get to be a tragic casualty of war who fought bravely until you were taken down by a cowardly assassin. Your reputation remains intact, neither of us has to die, and the men out there live to one day go home to their families." She held his gaze, her expression completely genuine.

"I don't dislike you, Lieutenant Shin. You are a fiercely loyal soldier who followed orders to the bitter end. But wars aren't won with loyalty. I'm deeply sorry for what I did, but I couldn't allow your pride to cost us this battalion." Chae-ha stood up, brushing yet another clump of dried mud from her sleeve.

"Now, there are two paths in front of you, Lieutenant: a truth no one will believe, and a plausible fiction that everyone already does. Embracing one destroys you, while embracing the other saves you. Take a few minutes to decide which story you want to tell Commander Mok – and then come join us at the front of the column, when you're ready." The young girl turned and moved towards the exit, before briefly looking back over her shoulder.

"Oh, and please consider banging your head into the side of the wagon on your way out. The bigger the bruise it leaves, the better." Barely an hour after the Tai-shan column finally trudged its way back to the main encampment, Commander Mok sat at the head of his large wooden table, a single sheet of paper trembling slightly in his grip. He pressed the thumb of his free hand against his temples, rubbing in slow, hard circles as he tried to stave off the migraine threatening to split his skull in two.

Spread out on the table before him was the topographical map of the eastern front. And standing across from him, looking thoroughly soaked and entirely too calm, were the people responsible for ruining it. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

"You lost the junction," Mok began, his voice slowly rising in volume.

"You abandoned the second largest mine in the region. You gave the Meng-shan their biggest victory to date." He stood up, leaning over the table, the veins in his neck starting to bulge.

"And as if turning tail and running wasn't enough, you even destroyed the bloody road! How am I supposed to mount a counterattack when you've turned the only real thoroughfare into an impassable mess? This is a complete disaster!" The Vanguard Commander braced his hands on the edge of the table, gripping it hard. Humiliation burned in his chest, hot and suffocating. The Sect Leader was going to demand answers for the loss of the mine, and the repercussions would fall squarely on his shoulders.

He wanted to draw his sword. He wanted to drag someone out into the rain and take their head off‚ to reinforce the price of failure. But somehow, despite the massive failure, they were all completely untouchable. He looked at Lieutenant Shin. Mok knew, with the instincts of a lifelong soldier, that the report in his hands was a lie. A Meng-shan assassin had slipped through the woods, knocked the commanding officer out with a blunt object, and then simply left him alive?

Despite the large purple bruise on the man's head, it was absurd. But he couldn't prove it, and the entire detachment was backing the story up. The men all believed Shin was a tragic victim who fought bravely until he was incapacitated. If Mok tried to execute him, he might face a real mutiny. He shifted his glare to Eom Tae-seok. He couldn't touch the Outer Elder.

Tae-seok was well-respected within the sect‚ and a man who, according to the narrative, had valiantly stepped in to take command and save the troops after Shin fell. If Mok tried to punish him, it would be his own head on a platter. And he certainly couldn't execute Kang Mu-cheon. Not only was the boy the Sect Leader's son, but Commander Mok had heard the exhausted soldiers talking as they returned to the camp. They were practically chanting the boy's name.

Despite taking part in a total defeat, the Young Master had somehow emerged from this engagement a hero. There was nothing he could do. He was trapped in a cage whose foundation was built from carefully crafted public opinion, and whose bars were made of neatly brushed ink. And the most infuriating part was – every single person in this room knew it.

"Commander Mok," Chae-ha spoke up, her voice calmly contrasting against his aggressive outburst. She stepped up to the table, her small hand hovering over the topographical map.

"The loss of the mine is regrettable, but with change comes new opportunities. The Meng-shan still need to consolidate their gains. It will take a while before they can get the mine operational, and even longer before they can begin actually moving any iron." She tapped the area where Mu-cheon had felled the pine trees.

"Furthermore, the destroyed road is also a blessing. It encourages the Meng-shan to focus on that consolidation, rather than continuing their advance. We may have lost a piece of territory today, but we gained a highly valuable resource: time." Commander Mok stared at her, his eyes narrowing.

"Time to do what, Inspector? Polish our boots, while our enemies revel in their victory?"

"Time to build a real defense," Chae-ha replied. Her finger dragged backwards along the road on the map, stopping at a high ridge that was deep enough inside the Tai-shan territory to be safe from enemy scouts.

"Here. I identified this spot as we passed by. If we bring in lumberjacks from the city, we can clear-cut the forest around this point. The timber would be useful for reinforcing the ground, providing us with more fighting space and proper footing. It would also allow us to build some simple defensive fortifications. We can use the time we just gained to create a defensive line that we can actually hold." Elder Eom Tae-seok crossed his arms and offered a single, slow nod of agreement.

Mok felt the blood rushing to his ears. He looked from the map to the grizzled veteran, and then down to the young girl in scholar's robes.

"Are you... a Field Inspector…seriously trying to lecture me on strategy?"

"Certainly not. I'm only advocating for a logical –""You are advocating cowardice!" Mok exploded, slamming his fist onto the table so hard the map jumped.

"Turtling up means abandoning any attempt to reclaim what we've lost. Do you even realize where you are pointing? That position is thirty li behind our current lines! Are you seriously telling me to voluntarily sacrifice more of our territory to the enemy?"

"Commander, with all due respect: we are going to lose that territory anyway. We might as well use it strategically, to allow us –""Enough!" Mok bellowed, his face flushed purple.

"I am in charge, and I say we do not cede another inch to those purple dogs! We are taking that mine back. And we are doing it my way." The Commander grabbed a wooden marker from the edge of the table and slammed it down onto the map, right over the ruined road.

"You created this mess, so you be the ones to clean it up," he said, looking directly at Lieutenant Shin and Mu-cheon.

"Tomorrow, Lieutenant Shin will take the remainder of his battalion, reinforced with a few reserves, and march right back down into that valley. Getting an entire army around or over the broken tree trunks will be slow, and it will be miserable – especially for the supply wagons. You will do it anyways." The Vanguard Commander thumped his finger on the map repeatedly for emphasis.

"Once you're past the obstacle you created, your job is to engage the main Meng-shan column on the road that leads to the mine. And since the Young Master is so eager to see combat, your detachment will lead the vanguard. I hope you enjoy being up front." Commander Mok didn't wait for their reaction. He dragged a second marker through the dense forest on the map.

"While you hold their attention, I will personally lead a smaller force through the hunting trails in the forest. We will bypass the main engagement entirely and launch a surprise attack on the front entrance of the mine, quietly slaughtering any stragglers we find along the way." The Vanguard Commander picked up a third, smaller marker, his eyes gleaming in the dim light. He placed it high up on a mountain slope.

"Big mines require ventilation shafts. So, I will send a small strike team over the mountain paths to locate them. We'll drop burning pitch and wet leaves down into the tunnels; we'll smoke the Meng-shan out, like the rats they are. And as they stumble out of the entrance, choking and blind, my force will be waiting outside to butcher them." Mok looked up, his eyes locking onto Chae-ha's.

"Once the garrison is dead and the mine is secure, my group will march south and strike the rear of their main column. The enemy will be crushed between my hammer and your anvil. We will destroy them entirely." The Commander straightened his back. He looked at the four of them, daring any of them to speak. Chae-ha stepped forwards again and drew a breath.

"Sir, if I may –""You may not!" the Vanguard Commander snapped, waving his hand dismissively.

"That is the strategy. No arguing! Now, all of you: get the hell out of my tent."