Chapter 209: Scouting

That day Wang Dou returned to the prefectural city. He was in an exceptionally cheerful mood the whole journey; when Xie Yike and the others heard that Lu Xiangsheng had recommended Wang Dou for promotion to Mobile Corps Commander, every one of them was elated. Their lord had been promoted again, and they, his subordinates, would rise accordingly with him.

Only from this moment could Wang Dou truly be called a general.

Back inside the prefectural city, when his subordinates heard that Wang Dou had been promoted to Mobile Corps Commander, they also cheered and leaped with joy. Although the official appointment document from the Ministry of War had not yet arrived, with Viceroy Lu's recommendation, surely their lord's promotion to Mobile Corps Commander was only a matter of days.

As the news spread, people came in an endless stream to offer congratulations, though who knew how many more burned with envy and jealousy. Of course, not everyone thought Wang Dou's promotion to Mobile Corps Commander was a cause for celebration; the Department Magistrate of Baoan, Li Zhen, remarked privately: "His Excellency Lu recommends Wang Dou as Mobile Corps Commander, certainly intending for him to lead troops into the capital's defense. The slave rebels are numerous in force; entering the defense this time will likely be a matter of nine deaths and one life."

After returning to the prefectural city, Wang Dou threw himself into intense preparations for the coming campaign, unlike other Ming armies who trembled at the prospect of battle. The soldiers of Shunxiang Fort, every last man, wanted to march to war.

After the campaigns of the ninth year of Chongzhen, they no longer felt the slightest fear of fighting the Qing troops. Under the influence of the veterans, the new army trained last year was also boiling with fervent blood, every man among them. They too wanted to go to war, to win military merit and claim their share of rewards.

Every Company Commander and Squad Commander fought for a place on the expedition roster; none wanted to stay behind guarding the prefectural city, which left Wang Dou both gratified and vexed.

Wang Dou now had a force of three Company Commanders, totaling 3,675 men including each company's baggage train and artillery unit. In addition, there were the battalion headquarters guards, night scouts, artillery unit, and baggage unit, numbering 625 men. There was also a cavalry unit of 400 men and a cavalry baggage unit of 200 men. Altogether they numbered roughly 5,000 men.

However, not all of these troops could follow Wang Dou into the field. Baoan Prefecture was his own base of operations; the prefectural city and Shunxiang Fort together required one full company of soldiers left behind to guard them, which accounted for over 1,089 men. In various places across Baoding Prefecture and Zhending Prefecture, he had also left four squads of troops on garrison duty. One of Wang Dou's Squad Commanders had four squads of troops, which accounted for another 324 soldiers.

The 5,000 new recruits had only just begun training in the autumn, and facing the fierce Qing troops, they certainly could not be sent into battle now to throw their lives away. After several months of bandit suppression, they had campaigned across a thousand li. His subordinates had also suffered nearly a hundred casualties. Reckoning it all up, he could ultimately take 3,500 soldiers to war.

His own appointment had not yet been issued, so Wang Dou had not yet decided which officers and men would accompany him on the campaign. Nevertheless, he threw himself into intense preparations for the related provisions, fodder, equipment, armor, firearms, and so on. At the same time, he dispatched large numbers of night scouts beyond the borders to reconnoiter enemy movements and stay constantly informed of Qing troop maneuvers and the development of the war situation.

Early in the tenth month of the eleventh year of Chongzhen, within the borders of Fangshan.

Not far from Zhuozhou and Laishui, on a mountain the locals called Great Fangshan, several men lay quietly in concealment. In front of a few large trees, a young man of unremarkable appearance was gazing intently at the wilderness below the mountain.

The weather in the Great Ming's tenth month already carried a distinct chill. He wore a thick sheepskin coat and a felt cap commonly worn in the northern regions. The coat and felt cap were neither new nor old, even somewhat worn and damaged; together with his simple, rough, dark face, anyone seeing him for the first time would take him for just an ordinary local commoner.

Yet the sharp glint that occasionally flashed in his eyes, the cold gleam of the iron helmet faintly visible beneath his felt cap, and the sturdy curved blade tucked at his waist would startle one into realizing he was no simple man. A gust of cold wind swept past, stinging the face with a faint pain. The young man's sheepskin long coat was blown open on both sides, revealing the thick iron armor plates within.

The young man remained motionless, not even shrinking his neck. He gazed out silently over the wilderness for a long time, watching Qing mounted scouts occasionally whoop and gallop past. After an unknown length of time, he slowly exhaled and said, "It seems the Tartar troops have a tendency to move south."

His accent was slightly peculiar; the two men beside him seemed accustomed to it and paid it no mind.

One young man, dressed identically in sheepskin coat and felt cap, frowned and said, "I heard that not long ago those Tartar troops were still plundering north of the capital, and now we're already seeing many mounted scouts coming toward Zhuozhou and Fangshan."

He sighed: "Could it be that the calamity of the ninth year of Chongzhen is to be repeated? The common people of our Great Ming will suffer again."

The other man, however, lacked his companion's sentimentality. He said in a rough, gruff voice, "Squad Commander Long, we were sent out to scout by order of Company Commander Wen. We've been out for several days and haven't discovered any useful information. It won't be easy to report back."

The first man said, "That's right. Squad Commander Wu from our Jia unit took his brothers scouting a few days ago, and I heard they cut off two Tartar heads and even captured a live one. As brothers of the same Jia unit, returning empty-handed would be too shameful to face anyone."

The young man addressed as Squad Commander Long said, "Of course we can't go back empty-handed like this. Daya, Bandeng, did you see that group of Tartar soldiers that just passed? Look at their armor and banners. Those are troops of the Tartar Plain White Banner. We'll stealthily follow them, find an opportunity to cut them down, and capture a few alive."

Hearing Squad Commander Long's words, the two men beside him grew excited. Although the group of Qing mounted scouts that had just passed numbered over a dozen men and they had only five, they felt not the slightest fear.

This small squad was precisely the night scout soldiers of Squad Yi, Jia Unit, of the Baoan Prefecture Night Scouts. The young man addressed as Squad Commander Long was none other than Long Er, the leader of Squad Yi, whom Company Commander Wen Daxing thought highly of. On the first day of the tenth month of the eleventh year of Chongzhen, they had been dispatched on orders and had already been out roaming for two days.

The two night scouts standing beside Long Er were nicknamed "Bandeng" and "Daya," both young men under thirty. The night scout called "Bandeng" was built extremely thick and stout, skilled in close combat. Because of his irascible temper, he would grab a bench and smash people at the slightest provocation, hence the nickname "Bandeng." However, when scouting, he was extremely calm and adept at seizing opportunities for battle, which was why he had been selected for the night scout unit.

The night scout dressed identically in sheepskin coat and felt cap, the sentimental one nicknamed "Daya," had two enormous protruding canines, yet he was the most literate man in their squad. Although his combat ability, both mounted and on foot, ranked at the bottom of the squad, his accuracy with the crossbow was exceptional, and in surveying maps and terrain and transmitting intelligence codes, his skills were the strongest in the squad.

Long Er left the night scout nicknamed "Bandeng" to continue keeping watch and observing from the hilltop, while he and the young night scout nicknamed Daya walked down toward the hollow below the mountain. There was a small stream there, nearly dried up, but still sufficient to supply drinking water for their party.

By the small stream, over a dozen horses and mules were halted, most of them tall, sturdy steeds with trimmed manes and tails. At that moment, two night scouts were tending to them, watering and feeding them. One of the night scouts was nearly thirty, tall and powerfully built, with a rather arrogant expression on his face. The other night scout was nearly forty, tall and lean, with high, prominent cheekbones that gave him a somewhat gloomy air.

They too wore sheepskin coats and felt caps, dressed like ordinary local commoners, but both had powerful bows and long blades slung diagonally at their waists, and carried lacquered cowhide arrow cases on their backs, crammed full of eagle-feathered sharp arrows. The arrow cases were covered with blade scars and arrow marks, as if testifying to the long years of campaigning their owners had endured. The cold wind blew open their coats, likewise revealing the thick armor plates within.

Compared to a few years ago, the equipment of the night scouts in Wang Dou's army was still the finest in the entire force. Originally, each night scout had two horses per man; because of the considerable number of mules and horses captured during this year's bandit suppression, in order to enhance the night scouts' mobility, each night scout had now been increased to three mules and horses.

Although they wore sheepskin coats and felt caps, dressed like ordinary commoners, inside their coats and caps they all had iron helmets and breastplates, the finest iron plates. Each man was also issued a thick, sturdy shield, providing outstanding protective effect. Recognizing the weak power of hand crossbows and hand firearms, every night scout was now required to draw a powerful bow, paired with poisoned arrows. Those not skilled in archery were equipped with a heavy crossbow drawn by foot, killing silently and without trace. In addition, there was a variety of other equipment, depending on each night scout's preferences and specialties.

Hearing sounds, the two night scouts raised their heads alertly. Seeing it was Long Er and the other two, they relaxed.

Even while feeding the horses, these two men faced the stream, so they could observe the surrounding movements at all times.

"Master Hu, Master Qiang, are the horses all fed?"

Long Er opened his mouth to ask. Both these night scouts were older than him. Although he was the Squad Commander, he still had to be courteous to them.

"All fed. Just need to tether them up and that'll be it."

The one who answered was the gloomy-faced night scout. He spoke in a somber tone, pulled a pipe from his pouch, and began to smoke quietly.

He was the oldest in the squad and was also skilled at feeding and caring for horses. Feeding horses was no simple task; they could not miss their three daily portions of fodder. When scouting and marching in the field, they needed the finest bean fodder—at least four jin of fodder and eight jin of hay per horse per day.

Sometimes they even had to supply fried noodles mixed with salt water; otherwise, the horses would lose weight, slow down, and have difficulty recovering quickly from fatigue. After eating and drinking their fill, the warhorses' heads had to be tethered high to aid digestion. Their five men had fifteen mules and horses, several of which were specifically used to carry the men's rations and fodder.

Apart from his gloomy expression, this night scout looked just like an old farmer, but Long Er dared not underestimate him. Master Qiang's interrogation techniques could make even a man of iron open his mouth—Long Er had witnessed it personally. In the entire Jia unit, when it came to ruthlessness and cruelty, this man ranked first.

The other night scout, addressed as Master Hu, wore an expression full of arrogance. Hearing Long Er's inquiry, he merely grunted in polite acknowledgment and filled several leather waterskins to the brim.

After finishing the logistics and rest tasks, the four gathered in a circle. Long Er said, "Just now on the hilltop, I saw over a dozen Tartars of the Plain White Banner heading south. I've decided to follow them, wipe them all out, and ideally capture a few alive."

Master Hu and Master Qiang grunted in acknowledgment. Neither spoke, but excitement flickered faintly in their expressions, especially Master Qiang, who smoked his pipe in silence, a cruel light flickering indistinctly in his eyes.

The night scout nicknamed "Bandeng" said, "Squad Commander Long, those Tartar soldiers have been gone a while. Can we catch up?"

Long Er's face was expressionless. He said, "Those Tartar soldiers are swaggering openly, making no effort to conceal their tracks. Catching up to them will be all too easy."

He was skilled in the art of tracking, and pursuing a few Qing soldiers was no difficult task for him. He drew a finely made oilskin tube from his bosom and pulled out a map from inside it. After he spread it open, the four gathered around the map and began discussing in low voices.

None of the four were amateurs at reading maps and terrain. As a night scout, besides outstanding combat ability, they had to master all aspects of reconnaissance knowledge, even weather, geography, banners, and signal drums. In Long Er's squad, every man even had a rough command of the Manchu and Mongol languages, and had also mastered various dialects from different regions of the Great Ming.

Long Er studied the map carefully for a while and finally judged: "Judging by the stamina of their horses, today they won't go farther than Shilou or Sipu to spend the night."

He gave a cold snort: "These Tartar soldiers are far too arrogant. Today will be the day they die."

As he said this, a cold gleam flashed through Long Er's eyes.

Bandeng rubbed his hands together and laughed gruffly, "Satisfying, satisfying. Having a map makes things so convenient."

He praised: "Our lord's calculations are divinely inspired. He had us reconnoiter and map the various areas around Zhuozhou early on. How did his venerable self know that the Tartar troops would come to these places around Zhuozhou?"

Word was now spreading through the army that Lord Wang possessed the ability of foresight, as if he had anticipated the campaign of the eleventh year of Chongzhen. Because Wang Dou had established a fortified outpost at Liujing Fort between Yizhou and Laishui County, it provided these night scouts with immense convenience. Using Liujing Fort as a base, their reconnaissance cavalry could cover an area of several hundred li around.

Long Er smiled, a rare occurrence, and said, "If you could understand his venerable self's thinking, you wouldn't be a mere lowly night scout soldier."

Bandeng burst out in a gruff laugh. Long Er's smile faded, and he said in a deep voice, "Brothers, mount up."