The announcement shocks the court.
Wu An will march north in three days.
Not six months.
Not when the army is ready.
Now.
The ministers stare at him in disbelief.
"Our armies are not prepared!"
"Our artillery is unfinished!"
"The frontier fortresses are barely supplied!"
One official nearly collapses.
"If we invade Zhou now, we will be destroyed."
Wu An does not argue.
He simply gives the order.
"Prepare the army."
The decision spreads through Ling An like wildfire.
Soldiers scramble.
Supply wagons assemble hastily.
Black Tiger battalions move north through the city gates under heavy banners.
From the outside—
It looks exactly like desperation.
Zhou spies report everything.
The information reaches the frontier commanders within days.
"Wu An is marching already."
The general studies the report carefully.
"How large is his force?"
"Perhaps thirty thousand."
"Thirty thousand?" another officer scoffs.
"He barely survived the siege with that number."
"And now he invades Zhou with it?"
The commanders laugh.
"He's panicking."
The news spreads quickly through the Zhou army.
Wu An is rushing.
Wu An is desperate.
Wu An is making a mistake.
The Emperor of Zhou receives the same report.
He reads it slowly.
Then smiles.
"Good."
A minister bows beside him.
"Your Majesty, should we reinforce the frontier immediately?"
"No."
The Emperor sets the parchment down.
"If Wu An wishes to invade before he is ready…"
"Let him."
The court nods eagerly.
They imagine Liang's exhausted army marching directly into Zhou's prepared defenses.
It will be an easy victory.
Three weeks later, Wu An's army appears near the frontier.
From the hills, Zhou scouts watch the columns moving north.
Supply wagons struggle along muddy roads.
The soldiers march slowly.
Their formations look uneven.
Even the artillery appears limited.
A Zhou officer laughs.
"He truly is desperate."
The frontier commanders gather quickly.
Four legions move to intercept.
If they destroy Wu An's army here—
The war ends.
But the march is not what it seems.
Behind the visible army lies something else.
Wu An rides quietly at the rear of the column.
Not at the front.
Not where a desperate commander would place himself.
Liao Yun rides beside him.
"They're watching us."
"Good."
"They think we're rushing."
"They should."
The column that Zhou scouts observe is only part of Liang's army.
The slowest part.
The loudest part.
The most visible part.
Behind the hills—
Hidden roads carry the real force.
Black Tiger battalions move silently through forest passes.
New artillery batteries roll along mountain paths Zhou scouts cannot see.
Reserve units wait behind ridge lines.
What Zhou believes is Wu An's invasion force—
Is bait.
The trap begins at dusk.
Zhou's four legions descend toward the valley where Wu An's visible army has camped.
Their commanders expect battle by morning.
But when the Zhou army reaches the valley floor—
They find something strange.
The campfires are burning.
The wagons remain.
But the soldiers are gone.
The valley is empty.
The Zhou general frowns.
"Where are they?"
A junior officer answers nervously.
"Perhaps they retreated?"
The general studies the hills carefully.
Something feels wrong.
Then the cannons fire.
The first volley comes from the ridges behind them.
New Liang artillery roars across the valley.
The Zhou supply wagons explode instantly.
A second volley erupts from the forests to the west.
Black Tiger muskets fire in disciplined rows.
Then a third line appears.
Hidden infantry rise from trenches along the valley slopes.
The Zhou army freezes.
They are surrounded.
Liao Yun gives the signal.
The valley erupts into chaos.
Liang artillery hammers the trapped legions.
Volley formations advance steadily.
Black Tigers descend from the hills like wolves.
The Zhou commanders shout orders—
But their formations collapse.
They marched directly into Wu An's trap.
The battle lasts until midnight.
By the time the surviving Zhou soldiers break free from the valley—
Two legions are shattered.
Their artillery destroyed.
Their supply lines gone.
And Wu An's main army remains intact.
From the ridge above the battlefield, Wu An watches the smoke rising.
The trap worked.
Not perfectly.
But enough.
The Zhou army retreats again.
For the second time.
Liao Yun approaches slowly.
"They thought you were desperate."
Wu An nods.
"They were correct."
"But they believed desperation meant weakness."
Below them, the valley burns.
Shen Yue joins them quietly.
"You let them see what they wanted to see."
"Yes."
"And now?"
Wu An looks north.
Beyond the frontier.
Beyond the shattered legions.
Beyond the mountains that guard Zhou's heartlands.
The road is open.
For the first time—
Liang stands on the edge of invading the greatest empire in the region.
Wu An turns toward his generals.
"This was only the beginning."
The army prepares to march again.
But now—
Not as a desperate gamble.
As an invasion.
And somewhere far to the north—
The Emperor of Zhou still believes the trap failed.
He has not yet learned the truth.
Wu An has crossed the frontier.