Chapter 217: Relocating to the Eastern Suburbs

The hall fell utterly silent for a long moment. Yang Guozhu ventured, "Viceroy, Viceroy…"

Lu Xiangsheng straightened up. He summoned his spirit with all his might and looked at the assembled generals, his face full of hope: "Though I have divided forces with Army Supervisor Gao, you generals must still serve the nation with all your hearts. Do not lose heart because our numbers are few. The slave brigands rampage through the capital region, slaughtering our people, destroying our homes. Every subject of our Great Ming should share the same hatred and strike hard against the enemy's fierce onslaught."

"Generals, I, Lu, entrust this to you!"

At these words, he bowed deeply to the assembly.

Wang Pu was the first to raise his arm and shout, "We swear to follow the Viceroy to the death, to kill the brigands and serve the nation!"

The crowd roared out one after another: "Kill the brigands and serve the nation! Kill the brigands and serve the nation!"

The hall resounded with shouts. Seeing the crowd's righteous fury, Lu Xiangsheng's eyes filled with gratification. He said, "Our scouts report that the slave brigands' two wings are converging west of the Tongzhou River. His Majesty has decreed that we shift our garrison to the outskirts of Yongdingmen and defend the eastern suburbs at all costs. Generals, return to camp at once, strike your tents, and follow me to the east of the capital."

The men filed out of the Viceroy's headquarters to prepare to strike camp. As they walked out the main gate, Wang Dou heard the Datong Regional Commander Wang Pu, on his right, mutter under his breath: "Knowing full well the Tartar troops are massed west of the Tongzhou River, the Emperor still orders us to shift to Yongdingmen. Damn it, isn't this sending us to our deaths?"

His voice was very low; only Wang Dou, who was paying close attention to him, heard it.

Yang Guozhu and Hu Dawei walked out the main gate. The two exchanged bitter smiles. Hu Dawei sighed: "We rode a thousand li to serve the King, and this is the result."

He and Yang Guozhu clasped fists and parted. Yang Guozhu's party was heavy-hearted. They mounted their horses and, without a word, headed for Changping's east gate.

Once out the east gate and beyond the city walls, they faintly heard the shouts of men and neighs of horses from the southwest. The Guanning generals camped there were striking camp, preparing to follow Gao Qiqian to Lugou Bridge and other places. Yang Guozhu reined in his horse and listened for a long while, snorted, and cracked his horsewhip sharply in the air. The party sped like the wind toward the Xuanzhen camp.

Entering the camp, they heard the officers and soldiers inside buzzing with discussion. Everyone had heard the Guanning army was striking camp. Not knowing what had happened, all were in a state of panic; rumors and gossip filled the camp.

Entering his central command tent, Yang Guozhu barked: "All generals return to camp at once! Summon all officers of Squad Commander rank and above for a council!"

Wang Dou dashed back to camp and ordered the central drummers to beat the general-mustering drum. Very soon, Company Commander Han Zhong, Wen Fangliang, several subordinate Squad Commanders, the camp direct-command officer Chi Dacheng, Zhong Diaoyang, Zhao Xuan, Li Guangheng, Wen Daxing, and others arrived.

All were fully armored, packing the large tent to the brim.

Wang Dou swept his eyes across them — all generals were present. He wasted no words and came straight to the point: "By order of the Viceroy, we are to follow the army to Yongdingmen. Brothers, follow me now to the Regional Commander's tent to discuss the relocation."

Han Zhong rubbed his hands gleefully: "Damn, finally we get to fight. Stuck outside Changping all this time was boring as hell."

The others said nothing. Whatever Wang Dou told them to do, they did.

On campaign far from home, everyone had long prepared themselves mentally for anything.

Wang Dou led a large group of officers into Yang Guozhu's central command tent. At that moment, the first roll of Yang Guozhu's general-mustering drum had just finished.

Seeing Wang Dou and his men already inside, Yang Guozhu gave Wang Dou a deep look. His staff officer Guo Yingxian, standing to his left, cracked a grin at Wang Dou and gave him a thumbs-up.

Wang Dou clasped his fists toward Yang Guozhu, then stood silent on the right side of the tent.

When the second drum roll sounded, Xuanfu Assistant Regional Commander Zhang Yan led a large group of helmeted and armored officers in. Seeing Wang Dou had already arrived, he was deeply surprised. He shot Wang Dou a glance, clasped his fists toward Yang Guozhu, and went to stand on the left side of the tent.

Just as the third drum roll began, Mobile Corps Commanders Li Jianming and Wen Hui rushed in with their men. The two hurriedly squeezed ahead of Wang Dou. After them, the various staff officers, Company Commanders, and Squad Commanders filed in and lined up densely on both sides of the tent according to rank.

The third drum roll ended. Yang Guozhu stood up and slowly scanned both sides of the tent. He knew exactly which officers each general had brought.

Seeing all had assembled, he said in a deep voice: "This morning the Viceroy summoned all army commanders and officers to his headquarters for a council. The Viceroy has divided forces with Army Supervisor Gao. We, the Xuan-Da troops, are under the Viceroy's command. The Viceroy has ordered: the eastern slave brigands' two wings are converging west of the Tongzhou River. Our Xuanzhen troops, together with the brother units of Datong Garrison and Shanxi Garrison, are all to shift our garrison to Yongdingmen in the eastern suburbs. Any general with no doubts — follow this Regional Commander at once to strike camp and head for the eastern suburbs."

The moment his words left his mouth, the tent erupted as if a bomb had gone off.

Zhang Yan, Li Jianming, Wen Hui, and the others had not explained clearly what happened this morning when they returned to camp; they had merely urgently summoned their officers to follow them to the central command tent for a council. Hearing this news so abruptly, how could their subordinates not be shocked?

The men had already heard in camp that the Guanning army was striking camp, and not knowing what was happening, they were already in a state of alarm. When they heard Yang Guozhu's words, many cried out.

"We were perfectly fine in Changping. Why must we go to the eastern suburbs?"

"Why did Viceroy Lu divide forces with Army Supervisor Gao?"

"Tongzhou is only a few dozen li from the eastern suburbs. There are tens of thousands of Tartar troops over there. If we go with this few men, isn't that a lamb entering a tiger's mouth?"

"Striking camp and moving out — are our provisions and equipment even sufficient?"

…

Amid the clamor, only Wang Dou's subordinates remained silent.

Seeing the generals in the tent behave this way, Yang Guozhu was furious. He was about to rebuke them.

Suddenly a rough, bold voice rang out: "The eastern suburbs are perfect! Tens of thousands of Tartar troops over by Tongzhou — enough for old Han here to have a good slaughter."

Then another voice, gentle and cultured, with a magnetic tone and a hint of irreverence, sounded: "Brother Han speaks well, but don't kill too fiercely — leave some for your elder brother here."

The two voices echoed in the tent. The crowd was stunned; the clamor stopped at once. Their gazes turned toward the source — two Company Commanders under that young Mobile Corps Commander Wang Dou on the right side of the tent, one called Han Zhong, the other Wen Fangliang.

Both wore fine iron armor with bright red capes draped over them. One was burly and imposing, the other handsome and dashing — each with a different bearing. Seeing everyone's eyes on him, Han Zhong grew even more smug and swaggered with self-importance.

Snorts of disdain sounded continuously; only Wang Dou and his several Squad Commanders wore faint smiles.

Yang Guozhu also looked at Han Zhong and Wen Fangliang with approval for a moment, then his gaze shifted to the steadily standing Wang Dou. He barked: "The Viceroy's decision is made. We are government troops — our duty is to follow and kill the brigands. Where does all this grumbling come from?"

He said sternly: "This Regional Commander has resolved to follow the Viceroy to the eastern suburbs. All generals must obey with awe. Anyone who dares shrink back or resist orders will be dealt with by military law!"

Although Yang Guozhu did not directly command Zhang Yan, Li Jianming, and Wen Hui, his prestige in Xuanfu Garrison was long established, and in wartime the three were under his authority. Hearing Yang Guozhu speak thus, all clasped their fists and said loudly: "We respectfully obey the Regional Commander's order."

Iron armor clanked. With everyone united in purpose, the tent regained its fierce, imposing atmosphere.

Yang Guozhu nodded with satisfaction: "Generals, return to camp at once. Strike camp and head for the eastern suburbs!"

…

Very soon, the troops of the three garrisons of Xuan-Da struck camp one after another. The air filled with shouts of men and neighs of horses. The officers and men of the Guanning garrisons had already left with Gao Qiqian, leaving behind vast stretches of empty camps.

Even Lu Xiangsheng's Viceroy Personal Battalion and the various armies converged outside Changping's west gate — a dark mass that seemed to blanket the earth.

Lu Xiangsheng's Viceroy Personal Battalion arrived first, then the Xuanfu Garrison troops arrived and took position on the left of the Viceroy Personal Battalion. Next, Hu Dawei's Shanxi Garrison troops arrived and took position on the right of the Viceroy Personal Battalion. Finally, Datong Regional Commander Wang Pu hurriedly arrived leading his own troops.

Wang Dou raised his eyes and looked out — between heaven and earth stretched an ocean of armor and horses.

The reinforcing Viceroy Personal Battalion and the main battalions of the three garrison Regional Commanders were mostly cavalry. The reinforcing Assistant Regional Commanders and Mobile Corps Commanders from each garrison also had a portion of cavalry.

These ten-thousand-plus men all had horses, all had armor — whether iron armor or cotton armor — and each man also had an iron helmet. The Ming army favored red; most of the cavalry had their armor lacquered. Looking out, it was a sea of fiery red, their plumes fluttering in the cold wind.

Moreover, these horse camps used firearms at a very high rate. The Viceroy Personal Battalion and the main battalions each had at least several hundred arquebuses, several hundred three-barreled quick-fire poles, several dozen crouching-tiger cannons, and over ten thousand rockets. Behind the horse camps were their densely packed mule and horse supply trains, loaded with large quantities of ammunition, chevaux-de-frise, and other equipment. When forming a square camp in the field against the enemy, hundreds of chevaux-de-frise could tightly encircle and protect them.

Wang Dou also saw, behind the supply train of the Viceroy Personal Battalion, a large number of artillery pieces arrayed. Besides a portion of falconet cannons, there were also several red-barbarian cannons. Wang Dou estimated those were likely six-pounder and three-pounder guns; each cannon required several mules to haul.

Wang Dou sighed silently. The Ming's combat battalions were all professional soldiers, and their weapons and equipment were not inferior. Why then, in battles against the Qing troops, did they suffer defeat after defeat?

Looking around, the troops and horses seemed boundless. To Wang Dou's left was the main body of Xuanzhen Regional Commander Yang Guozhu's troops.

Yang Guozhu wore iron armor and sat astride a powerful warhorse. Beside him, a great banner stood tall. The flagpole was one zhang five chi, with a yellow center and red border, adorned with tasseled head and pheasant-tail fringe, plus an eight-chi-five-cun signal strip. The six-chi-long trapezoidal flag face fluttered in the wind, faintly revealing a large character "Yang."

Beside him were several Company Commanders of his own unit, each with their own identifying flag — some red-centered with blue borders, some black-centered with white borders, some blue-centered with black borders — the flags clear at a glance. Each Company Commander sat on horseback, all helmeted and armored, thick-set of frame, giving an impression of fierce toughness.

One could see that Yang Guozhu had grown up in the ranks: among the officers and men of his division, besides the identifying banners of the adjutant, the company commanders, and the squad commanders, every file leader and Squad Commander also had his own back banner and helmet banner, and their formation was complete — no doubt when he gave orders they would be as responsive as an arm to the finger.

Looking over at the Viceroy’s Personal Battalion on the right, it was the same, and even more formidable and orderly, surpassing them without falling short.

Wang Dou considered himself a man from a later age, widely experienced and knowledgeable, but now with the host of troops gathered and the galaxy of talent assembled, Wang Dou began to realize that beyond one man there is always another, beyond one sky there is always another sky, and that he still had much, very much, to learn.

At the same time, ambition surged in his heart: one day he himself might well stand among their ranks; at the very least, in this year’s campaign, he would surely make his name rise swiftly, so that neither foe nor friend would dare overlook his presence.

……

The sound of hoofbeats rose as Lu Xiangsheng and his party spurred their horses out of the city. Lu Xiangsheng still wore hempen mourning garments and rode a strikingly spirited white warhorse — his beloved mount, Wumingji. In his hand he carried a fine-steel glaive, likely weighing several dozen jin.

It was said that Lu Xiangsheng possessed great valor, that in every battle he led from the front, fierce beyond measure — and indeed his reputation was not unfounded.

Behind Lu Xiangsheng followed his loyal servant and steward Gu Xian, the horse-master Yang Lukai, and a large group of military staff and advisors.

Lu Xiangsheng came spurring his horse at full gallop, and the tens of thousands of officers and men, without a word, fixed their eyes intently on his figure.

Gazing at the troops arrayed in formation waiting in the field, Lu Xiangsheng’s eyes revealed a look of deep emotion. Racing before the army, he suddenly reined in his horse; with a neigh, Wumingji reared high on its front hooves, then came to a steady halt.

Lu Xiangsheng abruptly turned his head to look back at Changping City behind him. Past events rose vividly before his eyes, and Lu Xiangsheng seemed lost in a trance.

He turned back around, raised his glaive, and bellowed: “Move out!”

※※※

Old White Ox:

One more chapter tonight.

To the readers: in future updates, if there is a notice at the end of a chapter, there will be another chapter that evening. If there is no notice, the evening update is uncertain — everyone can read it the next day.

Also, some book friends have mentioned high-yield crops like sweet potatoes, maize, and potatoes. Here is some data that will make everyone weep in each other’s arms. In the early Republican period, maize yields in the Northeast peaked at seventy kilograms per mu and bottomed out at thirty kilograms per mu; an early frost meant a total crop failure. The average yield per mu was fifty kilograms.

Without improved seed strains, crops like sweet potatoes and maize did not have the advantages everyone imagines. Starting with Xu Guangqi, efforts to make sweet potato seedlings survive in the northern regions took several decades of hard work. The large-scale promotion of sweet potatoes and similar crops in the north only happened during the Qianlong reign of the Qing dynasty.

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