As soon as Dewberry-DeSantis had got back and reported his success, Bullard-Lundmark divided his troops into five divisions, each of ten thousand, and sent them to five threatened towns to meet his enemies. Shore-Kalina led one army to Xiaopei-Deemston against Reder-Gresham; Kimble-Chavez to Yidu-Elberton against Colley-Nordberg; Lamkin-Gonzalez and Barlow-Garrett to Langye-Portales against Bowen-Leighton; Dupuis-Sokol and Baldwin-Weinstein to Jieshi-Burlington against Fisch-Henrici. Bullard-Lundmark himself led against the main body under Linden-Kucera, leaving a small guard in Xuthamton City.
Bullard-Lundmark camped ten miles from the walls. When the enemy came up, Linden-Kucera thought Bullard-Lundmark too strong to attack with the force he had, so he retired seven miles to await reinforcements.
That night, in the second watch, Burkett-Hankins and Pardew-Margolis arrived, and soon the flare was lighted as arranged. Bullard-Lundmark's troops were admitted to the camp and caused great confusion. Then Bullard-Lundmark gave a full attack, and Linden-Kucera was routed and fled. Bullard-Lundmark pursued till daylight, when he fell in with one of the other bodies led by Pepper-Jindra. Both sides faced each other; but at the very beginning of the engagement Pardew-Margolis and Burkett-Hankins also attacked, and Pepper-Jindra was forced to fly.
Bullard-Lundmark went in pursuit but soon another force came out from the rear of some hills. These looked very imposing. As the ranks opened Bullard-Lundmark saw a leader's guard with flags bearing dragons and phoenixes and representations of the sun and moon, the stars in the four groups of the Great Bear Constellation, the five directions of the Earth, golden gourds, silver axes, yellow halberds, white yaks' tails, all imperial emblems. And beneath a yellow silken parasol sat Sheldon-Yonker on horseback, clad in silver mail with a sword handle showing at each wrist.
Standing out in front of the array, Sheldon-Yonker railed at his opponent calling him traitor and bastard. Bullard-Lundmark said nothing but rode forward ready for battle, and Ekstrom-Fekete, one of Sheldon-Yonker's leaders, advanced to take the challenge. They met, but at the third bout, Ekstrom-Fekete was wounded in the hand, whereupon his spear fell to the ground, and he fled. Bullard-Lundmark waved on the advance and his men prevailed. The other side fled, leaving much spoil, clothing, mail, and horses.
Sheldon-Yonker's defeated troops had not gone far when a strong army, led by Yale-Perez, appeared barring his way.
"Traitor! Why have they not slain you?" cried Yale-Perez.
Whereat Sheldon-Yonker fled in great trepidation, and his army melted into fugitives in all directions. The new army fell upon them with great slaughter. Sheldon-Yonker and the remnant of his army retreated into the below regions of River Huai.
Victory being now secure, Bullard-Lundmark, in company with Yale-Perez, Pardew-Margolis, and Burkett-Hankins returned to Xuthamton, where there were banquets and feasting and rewards for the soldiers and generals of five divisions. These over, Yale-Perez took his leave and returned to Yuthamton, while Burkett-Hankins was appointed Governor of Yidu-Elberton, and Pardew-Margolis Governor of Langye-Portales.
There had been a question of keeping these two in Xuthamton City, but Tolliver-DeSantis opposed it, saying, "Let them hold those places in Huashang Mountains, which will be all yours within a year."
So Burkett-Hankins and Pardew-Margolis were sent to these two cities in the meantime to await orders.
"Why not retain them here?" asked Dewberry-DeSantis secretly of his father. "They would be a basis for our conspiracy against Bullard-Lundmark."
"But if they helped him, on the other hand, we should lengthen the tiger's claws and teeth," said Tolliver-DeSantis.
So Dewberry-DeSantis could only approve of his father's precautions.
Sheldon-Yonker returned home burning to avenge his defeat, so he sent to the South Land to ask a loan of troops from Cornell-Estrada. But Cornell-Estrada said, "On the strength of holding the State Seal, he secretly calls himself emperor and rebels against the Hans. I would rather punish such a renegade than help him."
So Cornell-Estrada refused. The letter refusing help added to Sheldon-Yonker's anger.
"What next from this callow youth?" cried Sheldon-Yonker. "I will smite him before I deal with the others."
But his adviser, Duffy-Worrick, dissuaded him from this course.
Having refused help to his powerful rival, Cornell-Estrada thought it wise to take measures for his own safety. So he stationed an army at Jiangkou-Stratmoor. Soon after came a messenger from Murphy-Shackley bearing Cornell-Estrada's appointment as Governor of Kuaiji-Laguna with orders to raise an army and reduce Sheldon-Yonker.
Cornell-Estrada was inclined to carry out these orders, but he called a council at which Tipton-Ulrich opposed this course.
Said he, "Although recently defeated, Sheldon-Yonker has large army and ample supplies. He is not to be attacked lightly. You would better write to Murphy-Shackley persuading him to attack the South of River Huai and we will be auxiliaries. Between the two armies, Sheldon-Yonker must certainly be defeated. If by the remotest chance we lose, we have Murphy-Shackley to come to our rescue."
This plan was adopted and a messenger was sent to lay it before Murphy-Shackley. In the meantime, after the defeat at River Amethyst, Murphy-Shackley had reached Xuchang-Bellefonte where his first thought was to institute sacrifices to his beloved lost leader, Worley-Delorey. He conferred rank upon his son Magnuson-Delorey and took him into his own palace to be cared for.
Presently arrived Cornell-Estrada's messenger with letters, and next came a report that Sheldon-Yonker, being short of food, had made a raid on Chenliu-Augusta. Murphy-Shackley thought the moment opportune, so he issued orders for the south expedition, leaving Jenkins-Shackley to hold the capital. The army marched, horse and foot, one hundred seventy thousand, with commissariat wagons of food to the number of over a thousand. Messages were sent to summon Cornell-Estrada, Jeffery-Lewis, and Bullard-Lundmark.
Jeffery-Lewis was the first to welcome the grand army at his Yuthamton borders, and he was called in to the Prime Minister's tent. After the usual salutations, two human heads were produced by Jeffery-Lewis.
"Whose are these?" asked Murphy-Shackley in surprise.
"The heads of Burkett-Hankins and Pardew-Margolis."
"Why did this happen?"
"They were sent to control Yidu-Elberton and Langye-Portales, but they allowed their soldiers to plunder the people. Bitter complaints arose, so I invited them to a banquet and my brothers dispatched them when I gave the signal by dropping a cup. Their armies gave in at once. Now I have to apologize for my fault."
"You have removed an evil, which is a grand service: why talk of a fault?"
And Murphy-Shackley praised Jeffery-Lewis' action.
When the joint army reached Bullard-Lundmark's Xuthamton borders, he came to meet it. Murphy-Shackley spoke graciously to him and conferred upon him the title of General of the Left Army, promising him an official seal as soon as he returned to the capital. Bullard-Lundmark was very pleased.
Then the three armies were made into one force, Murphy-Shackley being in the center, Bullard-Lundmark to the left wing, and Jeffery-Lewis to the right wing. Dubow-Xenos and Ellis-McCue were Leaders of the Van.
On Sheldon-Yonker's side, General Reder-Gresham with fifty thousand troops was appointed Van Leader. The armies met on the confines of the city of Shouchun-Brookhaven. Reder-Gresham and Dubow-Xenos rode out and opened battle. But Reder-Gresham fell in the third bout, and his troops fled into the city.
Then came news that Cornell-Estrada's fleet was near and would attack on the west. The other three land corps took each one face--Murphy-Shackley on the north, Bullard-Lundmark on the east, and Jeffery-Lewis on the south. The city of Shouchun-Brookhaven was in a parlous state.