Dragonwall

Ching Tung, of course-will charge over the hill and smash them.'

The ancient minister smiled warmly at Shengti. 'You are very astute,' he said. 'Your future will have many bright days.'

And my future will be very short, Batu thought. Shengti had neglected to mention the most clever part of Kwan's plan: a troublesome subordinate would be destroyed. Even if Batu did not perish during the slaughter, the stigma of losing an entire army would destroy his career.

Still, even knowing the consequences, Batu's instinct was to follow the order without question. To his way of thinking, soldiers were dead men. Their commanders simply allowed them to walk the land of the living until their bodies were needed in combat. In that respect, Batu considered himself no different from any other soldier, and if Kwan ordered him to meet the enemy naked and alone, he would be obliged to do so.

Still, a soldier was entitled to the hope of a glorious end. The young general could see no glory in allowing the horse-warriors to slaughter his army like so many swine, especially when Kwan had not taken the time to scout the enemy and could not be certain that anything useful would come of the sacrifice. Hoping to convince the generals from Shengti and Ching Tung to come to his aid, Batu decided to point out Kwan's sloppy preparations.

'While your plan has many things to recommend it, Minister,' he began, 'I must point out that it may result in the destruction of my army without accomplishing the emperor's will.'

Kwan settled back into his chair, placing his elbows on the armrests and lacing his fingers in front of his body. 'Please proceed, General,' he said, looking Batu in the eye with a milky but steady gaze. 'I'm sure we're all interested in your opinion.'

The general from Chukei looked at his two peers. They stood well away, their expressionless attention politely fixed on his face. After taking a deep breath, Batu turned back to Kwan. The minister had shifted his gaze to a space just over his subordinate's head.

'You're underestimating the barbarian's strength and sophistication,' Batu said. 'By exposing my army's flank, you're assuring its pointless destruction.'

The minister's expression did not change. He simply sat quietly, waiting for his subordinate to continue, as if what he had said so far was of no consequence.

Batu pointed toward the battlefield. 'You're assuming the barbarians have no plans of their own, and that they'll walk blindly into any trap you lay.' The young general waved his hand at his two peers. 'If the enemy outnumbers us, its flank guard will engage the armies of Shengti and Ching Tung on the hilltop. They'll never reach the battlefield.'

Kwan remained motionless and silent, his attention fixed somewhere behind Batu's head. At first, the young general wondered if the minister had heard a single word. Finally, however, he realized that what Kwan had or had not heard did not matter. Batu had secured his superior's animosity when he had dared to disagree with him. It appeared that Kwan's retaliation would be swift and ruinous.

Realizing that more hasty words would only make the situation worse, the general from Chukei held his tongue and tried to think of a way out of his difficulty. Fortunately, if all Kwan wanted was to be rid of him, Batu thought that he could salvage a respectable death from his predicament.

Bowing very low, Batu said, 'Minister, I have asked many impertinent questions, and for that I deserve punishment. But no soldier deserves a worthless death. Allow me to probe the enemy's strength, so that you will know exactly what Shou Lung faces.'

For the first time since Batu had begun his protest, Kwan looked directly at him. The minister's expression seemed almost sympathetic. Speaking very slowly and earnestly, the old man began, 'General Batu, we have no need to waste time probing that band of thieves. As for any punishment you may deserve, my decision is strictly a military one. It has nothing to do with your imagined rivalries.'

Batu could hardly believe what the minister was saying, especially with such an honest expression. If Kwan were lying, he was the best liar the general had ever met. If the old man was sincere, he was the biggest fool Batu had ever encountered.

Before Batu could respond, the minister continued. 'Now, tell me why you believe there are so many sophisticated savages out there.'

A lump rose in Batu's throat. The little information he had about the barbarians was far from what could be considered solid or reliable, but he felt confident it surpassed what anyone else in the tent had gathered.

'First,' Batu began, 'let's consider the enemy's strength. We know that there are at least one hundred thousand barbarians, for it would have required that many to destroy the Army of Mai Yuan. Eyewitness accounts of the battle suggest the actual numbers are far greater.'

'An army looks much larger when it's overrunning you,' the general from Ching Tung objected. 'Those reports are exaggerated.'

'Are they?' Batu asked. 'For several years now, there have been rumors that Yamun Khahan has been uniting the horse tribes. If this is true, and what we learned at the council in Semphar suggests it is, the barbarians could be fielding close to two hundred thousand troops.'

Ching Tung scoffed. 'Two hundred thousand! I doubt there are that many men in all the horse tribes together.'

'How many miles of horse tribe border do you patrol?' Batu asked, eyeing the other general sharply.

Raising a hand to silence Ching Tung, Kwan intervened. 'No one will contest that you patrol more horse tribe border than any of us, General Batu. Please proceed.'

'For hundreds of years, tribes of horse barbarians have been crossing the Chukei border to plunder. Their raiding parties have always been small, so we've never had trouble chasing them out. Note that I did not say tracking them down. The barbarians have always been cunning thieves, and more often than not it's all we can do to drive these bands out of the province. When we do catch them, they fight hard and shrewdly, and they never expect or give mercy.'

'Yes, we know this. What is your point?' Kwan pressed, shifting in his chair impatiently.

Batu hesitated. This next point was his most critical, and it was the one most likely to bring ridicule down on his head. Nevertheless, if he stood any chance of convincing his peers not to dismiss the barbarians lightly, it was a point he had to make.

After a deep breath, he continued. 'You may have noticed the resemblance between the barbarians and myself.'

Ching Tung snorted. 'How could we miss it?'

Batu suppressed a heated reply. Instead, he said, 'My great-grandfather was a Tuigan, as the barbarians call themselves. He settled in the province of Chukei after his clan was destroyed in a tribal war.'

'How bold of you to admit it,' Shengti said.

The condescension in Shengti's voice was nothing new to the general. Although most Shou prided themselves on lack of prejudice, they made no secret of the fact that they considered all other cultures inferior to their own. As a result, they could not help but look down on those who appeared to be anything less than full-blooded Shou.

The general continued. 'While I was growing up, my great-grandfather spent hours telling me stories of life among the nomads. Of course, I can't remember all his tales, but what I do remember is frightening.'

'Such as?' Kwan asked. His attention remained fixed on Batu, but it was difficult for the young general to tell whether the minister was genuinely interested or just humoring a condemned man.

'Tuigan tribes are devoted to one thing and one thing only: making war. Their children ride horses before they can walk, and fire bows at full gallop before their beards start to grow. When they're not at war with civilized lands, they're fighting clan feuds so bloody that whole tribes are slaughtered. For fun, they gather hundreds of warriors and massacre every living beast within ten square miles.'

'Brawlers and hunters are a poor match for trained soldiers,' Ching Tung interrupted.

'You have heard my words, but have you been listening, General?' Batu asked, motioning at Ching Tung sharply. 'I am saying that our enemies are born killers with no concept of mercy or surrender. If someone has trained them, given them focus, Shou Lung is in much greater danger than it has ever been in before.'

Ching Tung sneered. 'Trained armies cannot be made from murdering scum-'

The ancient minister raised his hand for silence, then turned to Batu. 'What would you suggest, General?'

'That we proceed with more caution on our first engagement,' Batu responded. 'Setting traps is fine, provided you know what you are hunting. But the man who sets a fox snare and catches a bear may be the one who