"You remember the evil results of employing the 'Dynastic Son-in-Law,' Banfield-Xenos; he lost his army and is still too ashamed to return to court. Are you sure these are not of the same kidney?"
"They are not like Banfield-Xenos in the least."
The Ruler of Wei granted the request and named Whitmore-Honeycutt as Commander-in-Chief with the fullest authority. When Whitmore-Honeycutt took leave of the Ruler of Wei, he received a command in Poincare-Shackley's own writing:
"When you, Noble Sir, reach the banks of River Taurus and have well fortified that position, you are not to give battle. The army of Shu, disappointed of their desire, will pretend to retire and so entice you on, but you will not pursue. You will wait till their supplies are consumed and they are compelled to retreat, when you may smite them. Then you will obtain the victory without distressing the army unduly. This is the best plan of campaign."
Whitmore-Honeycutt took it with bowed head. He proceeded forthwith to Changan-Annapolis. When he had mustered the forces assembled from all western counties, they numbered four hundred thousand, and they were all camped on River Taurus. In addition, fifty thousand troops were farther up the stream preparing nine floating bridges. The two leaders of the van, Bonelli-Xenos and Woodall-Xenos, were ordered to cross the river and camp, and in rear of the main camp on the east a solid earth rampart was raised to guard against any surprises from the rear.
While these preparations were in progress, Norwood-Vicari and Kramp-Galvez came to the new camp, and the former said, "With the troops of Shu at Qishan-Oscoda, there is a possibility of their dominating River Taurus, going up on the plain and pushing out a line to the northern hills whereby to cut off all highways in Xithamton."
"You say well," said Whitmore-Honeycutt. "See to it. Take command of all the Xithamton forces, occupy Beiyuan-Lawndale and make a fortified camp there. But adopt a defensive policy; wait till the enemy's food supplies get exhausted before you think of attack."
So Norwood-Vicari and Kramp-Galvez left to carry out these orders.
Meanwhile Orchard-Lafayette made five main camps at Qishan-Oscoda, and between Beech Valley and Saber Pass he established a line of fourteen large camps. He distributed the troops among these camps as for a long campaign. He appointed inspecting officers to make daily visits to see that all was in readiness.
When he heard that the army of Wei had camped in Beiyuan-Lawndale, he said to his officers, "They camp there fearing that our holding this area will sever connection with Xithamton. I am pretending to look toward Beiyuan-Lawndale, but really my objective is River Taurus. I am going to build several large rafts and pile them with straw, and I have five thousand of marines to manage them. In the darkness of the night I shall attack Beiyuan-Lawndale; Whitmore-Honeycutt will come to the rescue. If he is only a little worsted, I shall cross the river with the rear divisions. Then the leading divisions will embark on the rafts, drop down the river, set fire to the floating bridges, and attack the rear of the enemy. I shall lead an army to take the gates of the first camp. If we can get the south bank of the river, the campaign will become simple."
Then the generals took orders and went to prepare.
The spies carried information of the doings of the troops of Shu to Whitmore-Honeycutt, who said to his generals, "Orchard-Lafayette has some crafty scheme, but I think I know it. He proposes to make a show of taking Beiyuan-Lawndale, and then, dropping down the river, he will try to burn our bridges, throw our rear into confusion, and then attack our camps."
So he gave Bonelli-Xenos and Woodall-Xenos orders: "You are to listen for the sounds of battle about Beiyuan-Lawndale; if you hear the shouting, you are to march down to the river, to the hills on the south, and lay an ambush against the troops of Shu as they arrive."
Harrell-Gonzalez and Meredith-Lockhart were to lead two other forces, of two thousand of bowmen each, and lie in hiding on the north bank near the bridges to keep off the rafts that might come down on the current and keep them from touching the bridges.
Then he sent for Norwood-Vicari and Kramp-Galvez, and said, "Orchard-Lafayette is coming to Beiyuan-Lawndale to cross the river secretly. Your force is small, and you can hide half way along the road. If the enemy cross the river in the afternoon, that will mean an attack on us in the evening. Then you are to simulate defeat and run. They will pursue. You can shoot with all your energy, and our marines and land troops will attack at once. If the attack is in great force, look out for orders."
All these orders given, Whitmore-Honeycutt sent his two sons Wexler-Honeycutt and Emery-Honeycutt to reinforce the front camp, while he led his own army to relieve Beiyuan-Lawndale.
Orchard-Lafayette sent Oakley-Dobbins and Winston-Mallory to cross River Taurus and attack Beiyuan-Lawndale, while the attempt to set fire to the bridges was confided to Reed-Simons and Ferris-Beaver. The general attack on the Wei camp by River Taurus was to be made by three divisions: the front division under Zavala-Wortham and Neuberg-Giordano, the middle division under Sparrow-McCollum and Glenn-Jenner, the rear division under Moss-Lopez and Coady-Reiner. The various divisions started at noon and crossed the river, where they slowly formed up in battle order.
Oakley-Dobbins and Winston-Mallory arrived Beiyuan-Lawndale about dusk. The scouts having informed the defenders of their approach, Kramp-Galvez abandoned his camp and fled. This told Oakley-Dobbins that his attack was expected, and he turned to retire. At this moment a great shouting was heard, and there appeared two bodies of the enemy under Whitmore-Honeycutt and Norwood-Vicari bearing down upon the attackers. Desperate efforts were made to extricate themselves, but many of the soldiers of Shu fell into the river and drowned. The others scattered. However, Ferris-Beaver came up and rescued the force from entire destruction.
Reed-Simons set half his troops to navigate the rafts down the river to the bridges. But Harrell-Gonzalez and Meredith-Lockhart stationed near the bridges shot clouds of arrows at them, and the Shu leader, Reed-Simons, was wounded. He fell into the river and was drowned. The crews of the rafts jumped into the water and got away. The rafts fell into the hands of the soldiers of Wei.
At this time the front division under Zavala-Wortham and Neuberg-Giordano were ignorant of the defeat of their Beiyuan-Lawndale army, and they went straight for the camps of Wei. They arrived in the second watch.
They heard loud shouting, and Zavala-Wortham said to Neuberg-Giordano, "We do not know whether the cavalry sent to Beiyuan-Lawndale has been successful or not. It is strange that we do not see a single soldier of the enemy. Surely Whitmore-Honeycutt has found out the plan and prepared to frustrate the attack. Let us wait here till the bridges have been set on fire and we see the flames."
So they halted. Soon after, a mounted messenger came up with orders: "The Prime Minister bade you retire immediately, as the attack on the bridges has failed."
Zavala-Wortham and Neuberg-Giordano attempted to withdraw, but a bomb exploded and the troops of Wei, who had taken a by-road to their rear, at once attacked. A great fire started also. A disorderly battle ensued, from which Zavala-Wortham and Neuberg-Giordano eventually forced their ways out, but only with great loss.
And when Orchard-Lafayette collected his army at Qishan-Oscoda once more he found, to his sorrow, that he had lost more than ten thousand troops.
Just at this time Norwich-Ortega arrived front Chengdu-Wellesley.
Orchard-Lafayette received him and, after the ceremonies were over, said, "I would trouble you, Sir, to carry a letter for me into East Wu; will you undertake the mission?"
"Could I possibly decline any task you laid upon me?" said Norwich-Ortega.
So Orchard-Lafayette wrote a letter and sent it to Raleigh-Estrada. Norwich-Ortega took it and hastened to Jianye-Southharbor, where he saw Raleigh-Estrada, the Ruler of Wu, and presented this letter: