Chapter 253: The Defense Line

Beside Lu Xiangsheng, Yang Guozhu, Hu Dawei, Zhang Yan, Wang Dou, and others gathered in a cluster. Wang Dou held a rough map of the terrain around Julu.

“Our scouts report that to the north of Julu, at Nangong and Xinhe; to the east, at Guangzong and Weixian; to the south, at Pingxiang and Quzhou; and even to the west, at Longping and Baixiang—large bands of slave-bandits have appeared everywhere. Their intent is obvious: they are targeting our Xuan–Da forces.”

“The land around Julu is flat and open, with no defensible terrain. The enemy’s momentum is fierce. Viceroy, Commander Yang, Commander Hu, Assistant Regional Commander Zhang—we must make plans quickly.”

Lu Xiangsheng’s heart tightened, but he quickly steadied himself. He sneered, “In the tenth month, I led fifty thousand crack troops seeking a decisive battle with the main slave-bandit force and could not get one. Now they have come to us. So their flight at the mere rumor of our approach these past days was a ruse. Very well—here at Julu, we shall settle this once and for all.”

Yang Guozhu was a veteran of many campaigns, and the Xuan–Da army had won battle after battle in recent days. Though Qing troops surrounded them on all sides, his expression remained calm. He said thoughtfully, “The caitiff bandits march like sudden gales and driving rain. I expect that within a day or two they will close the encirclement. We must choose good ground, wait at ease for the weary foe, and avoid being caught unprepared when battle comes.”

Hu Dawei said, “A few li to the west is the Haoshui River. Its waters are broad, enough to supply the whole army. We can pitch camp on the riverbank, build a stronghold, and raise solid defenses. Our army has ample provisions and abundant firearms. If we fight with our backs to the river and wear down the slaves’ keen edge, Supervisor Gao’s relief force will also arrive. Then we strike from front and rear—our chances of victory will be immense.”

Lu Xiangsheng and the others nodded slowly. Hu Dawei’s words had struck a chord with Wang Dou as well. He truly was a veteran hardened by many battles, able to see the surest course at a glance.

Lu Xiangsheng gave the order to march rapidly northwest. Though the troops of every battalion had vaguely heard that large Tatar armies were closing in from all sides, the Xuan–Da army had forged a sharp fighting spirit in recent days, and their confidence had soared to unprecedented heights. The men were alarmed but not panicked, and they moved northwest in good order.

……

Before long, the ten thousand officers and men reached the banks of the Haoshui River. The river was indeed broad, its waves surging. Thick ice lined both banks, but at the center of the river, only churning ice floes rolled on, making it impassable for men, horses, or vehicles.

A sandy official road led straight to the opposite bank. Spanning the river on that road stood a majestic stone bridge, known to the locals as the Haoshui Bridge. Looking out, both shores stretched into an endless wilderness of yellow earth. Apart from a few trees and the occasional ruined village barely visible on the horizon, there was nothing.

“We make camp here.”

Lu Xiangsheng’s eyes were deep and brooding. At his command, the troops of the various Xuan–Da battalions took their tents from their supply wagons and began pitching camp in an unending stream. Soon, a sprawling encampment gradually took shape before their eyes.

Inside Lu Xiangsheng’s central command tent, Wang Dou and the Xuan–Da commanders gathered to discuss military affairs. Everyone voiced their own opinions, each offering their views on how the camp’s defenses should be arranged.

Wang Dou had won battle after battle and had also rendered the service of transporting grain. Among the Xuan–Da commanders at that moment, he enjoyed lofty prestige. Although he was only a minor Mobile Corps Commander, everyone—including Lu Xiangsheng and Yang Guozhu—placed great weight on Wang Dou’s opinions.

“Viceroy, honored commanders, honored generals, this humble officer believes that around our camp we may set up chevaux-de-frise, wooden palisades, earthen walls, and the like. But there is no need to dig a moat all around the camp and trap ourselves inside.”

Wang Dou held that in large-scale combat, an army could not simply defend passively without sallying forth. Only by being able to both defend and attack could one deal the greatest blow to the enemy’s morale and keen edge.

“This humble officer believes that directly in front of all our cannons, we need not build earthen walls. We need only dig a trench over a zhang deep some ten-odd paces in front of the guns, so that the charging slave-bandit troops are directly exposed to our cannon fire. A few dozen paces to either side of each cannon, we can build an earthen wall, about half a man’s height, and station dense ranks of firelock soldiers there. They can shoot down the slave-bandits to the front and also shield the gunners as they fight.”

For the defense line of these firelock soldiers, Wang Dou also had an ingenious method. Instead of digging a deep moat in front of the camp to hem themselves in, they would dig several deep trenches sixty paces ahead—just within the effective range of their own firelocks, but beyond the killing range of the enemy’s bows.

The earth dug out would be piled into low walls just in front of the trenches—walls not high, only half a man’s height or a little less. When Qing cavalry or infantry encountered these trenches and low walls, they would impede their advance while giving them no cover to hide behind.

Of course, between each section of trench, gaps a dozen or twenty-odd paces wide would be left. These would channel the Qing troops’ charges, directly forcing their assault forces to bunch up, while allowing their own limited troops to inflict maximum firepower casualties on the enemy.

In these open sections between the earthen walls, no wooden palisades or war wagons would be placed—only a single Folangji cannon and a single Crouching Tiger cannon at each, with dense ranks of firelock soldiers protecting both flanks. The battle tactic: the Folangji cannons would fire first, then the Crouching Tiger cannons. If that wave of the enemy still did not collapse, they would use the firelocks.

With only two cannons set up in each gap, they could be moved easily, and the troops inside the camp could also sally forth with ease. They could launch repeated counter-charges through the gaps between the trenches.

“After each wave of the slaves’ assaults loses momentum, our Xuan–Da cavalry or infantry will strike out through these gaps and humble the slaves’ arrogance.”

“In this way we can both defend and attack. Viceroy, honored generals, our army has ample provisions, abundant powder and shot, and soaring morale. Using the superiority of our firearms, right here by the Haoshui River, we shall drain every last drop of blood from the slave-bandits’ tens of thousands of troops!”

As he finished, Wang Dou brought his palm down heavily on the table.

The loud bang startled Lu Xiangsheng, Yang Guozhu, Hu Dawei, and the others. They roused themselves from the vision Wang Dou had laid out, each secretly exhaling. A feeling they could neither describe nor name rose in their hearts: “So ruthless, so merciless! Whoever faces an opponent like Wang Dou will feel a deep chill in his heart. It is a blessing he is an officer of the Great Ming!”

Lu Xiangsheng looked at Wang Dou with gratification. Wang Dou’s plan could be called perfect in every detail, exploiting their own strengths to the utmost. Wang Dou had already described the course of the Battle of Tongzhou, and everyone firmly believed that with the support of Wang Dou’s cannons and firelocks, the camp’s defense would be absolutely secure.

But then Wang Dou added one more remark: “Of course, to be isolated and without relief is a grave taboo in warfare. Fortunately, Supervisor Gao and the others have already led tens of thousands of troops south. We can request his aid. Once the enemy’s keen edge has been thoroughly blunted, Supervisor Gao’s tens of thousands of Guan–Ning troops can deliver a thunderous blow. Perhaps this time, the slave-bandits who have invaded can be wiped out in a single sweep.”

Historically, the Qing troops that surrounded Lu Xiangsheng at Julu numbered thirty thousand. Wang Dou did not know how many would come this time, and he worried about being overwhelmed by superior numbers. Although he had five thousand new troops in Baoanzhou, those raw recruits had never fought a pitched battle, nor even suppressed bandits. Bringing the bulk of them here would only add chaos. Moreover, the distance from Baoanzhou to Julu was over a thousand li, the road unpredictable, and supplying provisions extremely difficult. So the thought of sending reinforcements from Baoanzhou was firmly dismissed by Wang Dou. He could only pin his hopes on Gao Qiqian.

Historically, Gao Qiqian had watched him die without lifting a finger. But this time was different from history. With ten thousand Xuan–Da troops holding firm, Gao Qiqian and the others would not need to fight any bitter battle. They would only need to launch a single strike when the Qing troops were utterly spent, and perhaps they could annihilate every last Qing soldier who had crossed the border in the eleventh year of Chongzhen.

Such heaven-sent merit, such an enormous temptation—he ought to come.

……

Lu Xiangsheng also furrowed his brow in thought. Intelligence had come that Gao Qiqian had already led his army to Renxian, not far from either Julu or Jize. Recalling his past dealings with Gao Qiqian, Lu Xiangsheng had no real confidence whether Gao Qiqian would come or not.

But with a national battle at hand and a golden opportunity to wipe out the slave-bandits in one stroke, Supervisor Gao surely ought to set aside the narrow rift between them and lead the Guan–Ning relief army here. With that thought, Lu Xiangsheng wrote a letter in his own hand, dispatched several bodyguards mounted on fast horses, and sent Army Aide Yang Tinglin to deliver it in person to Renxian.

Wang Dou’s plan could be called flawless. The staff officers and aides in Lu Xiangsheng’s tent had already drawn up the defensive layout the commanders had agreed upon.

As before, Wang Dou would hold the front face of the camp. Xuanfu Regional Commander Yang Guozhu would guard the left flank, and Shanxi Regional Commander Hu Dawei the right flank. A portion of the Folangji cannons under Wang Dou’s command would support both flanks. Lu Xiangsheng would command the central force—nearly a thousand men under his direct command, plus two thousand under Xuanfu Assistant Regional Commander Zhang Yan, serving as a reserve relief force for all battalions and simultaneously guarding the Haoshui Bridge. Everyone, however, believed that the Qing troops would likely play their old trick of surrounding three sides and leaving one open, so the area around the Haoshui Bridge was not worth worrying about.

The council concluded, and everyone filed out of Lu Xiangsheng’s central command tent. Just then, Wen Daxing, the Night Scout Company Commander from Wang Dou’s camp, came hurrying over. His eyes were red and swollen, his expression one of profound grief. In Wang Dou’s memory, this tough man had always shown a face of ferocious menace or savage cruelty; he had never seen him like this.

A sense of foreboding rose in Wang Dou’s heart. He said in a deep voice, “Company Commander Wen, what has happened?”

Wen Daxing dropped to one knee and handed Wang Dou a dispatch: “Night Scout Squad Leader Li Youde has sent back vital intelligence.”

Then he said in a low voice, “Squad Leader Li was attacked en route by a large party of slave-bandit scouts. He covered his men’s return to camp, but he himself fought to the death and gave his life for the nation.”

Wang Dou was stunned for a moment. He asked, “His remains…”

Wen Daxing’s voice was heavy: “The Night Scout brothers who returned said that Squad Leader Li was surrounded by the enemy. He detonated the grenade he carried and perished together with the foe. His remains… could not be recovered…”

Wang Dou closed his eyes wearily. This was the first squad-leader-level officer in his army to die in battle, and it was the finest Night Scout squad leader in the entire force—a grievous loss. Beside Wang Dou, Yang Guozhu and his own central guard commander Guo Yingxian and others patted Wang Dou’s shoulder in consolation.

Lu Xiangsheng had also stepped out of the tent by now. He had heard every word of the exchange between Wang Dou and Wen Daxing. He gave a long sigh: “Brave warriors fight on the battlefield and find their shrouds in horsehide. For these fine young men, after the battle I shall certainly petition the court to secure them posthumous honors and commendations.”

Wang Dou steadied himself and said gently to Wen Daxing, “You have done well. Go and rest.”

Wen Daxing cupped his fists and withdrew in silence.

After he had taken a few steps, tears rolled uncontrollably down his face.

Wang Dou glanced at the intelligence report in his hand, then passed it to Lu Xiangsheng. After reading it, Lu Xiangsheng snorted: “North of Julu, a large force of the slaves’ Plain White Banner is closing in. To the east, a large force of the slaves’ Plain Red Banner. To the south, a large force of the Bordered Blue Banner, along with remnants of other slave banners and various banners of the Eight Banner Mongols. It seems they are determined to succeed and mean to wipe out our Xuan–Da troops to the last man.”

He barked: “Pass on my order: all battalions, press forward with all speed in fortifying the camp defenses!”