Chapter 304: Wang Dou Serves as Vanguard — This Is How a Great Man Should Be

After the Qing army withdrew, it was not until the early shen hour of the afternoon that the various Ming generals in Tongzhou gathered in Chen Xinjia's central army tent to discuss matters.

The reason it took so long to convene was that earlier, the Shunxiang Army cavalry had slain over a hundred soldiers of the Plain Red Banner, but they did not stop to cut off heads; the Ming troops who followed then scrambled frantically to seize those heads, some getting them and some not.

They quarreled endlessly over how to distribute these heads, nearly coming to blows and open conflict, and watching their behavior, the officers and men of the Shunxiang Army all showed expressions of contempt. Fortunately, Yang Guozhu, Hu Dawei, Wang Dou, and others were indifferent to these heads, and in the end Chen Xinjia expended great effort to settle the matter.

After the generals assembled in Chen Xinjia's great tent to confer, another farce erupted. Because that morning Shanhai Pass Regional Commander Ma Ke had not come to the aid of his troops, Shaanxi Regional Commander He Renlong flew into a towering rage, chased Ma Ke around the great tent and beat him until his mouth and nose bled, and the two nearly drew swords on each other.

He Renlong and his men had many cavalry under their command; although routed by the Qing army that morning, the bulk of their forces were not lost. Yet losing troops and officers, and having his chance to win merit as the vanguard ruined, causing this grand and vigorous campaign to fall just short of success — He Renlong's full fury was naturally vented on Ma Ke, who had stood by and watched him die.

The blame for this battle certainly did not lie with He Renlong and the other Qin army generals; they had done all they could, and could not be faulted. Shanhai Pass Regional Commander Ma Ke, by failing to rescue friendly forces, was guilty of "avoiding the enemy and letting them run free." Shaanxi Provincial Governor Sun Chuanting proposed that Ma Ke be severely punished, requesting the imperial sword to behead him before the army, or at the very least to strip him of office and rank and hold him in custody while reporting to the throne.

When word of this spread, the officers under Ma Ke's command immediately raised a clamor and grew restive, even posing a risk of mutiny. The various Guan-Ning regional commanders, feeling grief for a fellow creature's misfortune, also pleaded for leniency one after another. Chen Xinjia hesitated; Ma Ke had fled back, but his subordinate troops were not lost, and executing a general before the battle line was truly unpredictable and highly inauspicious.

He quietly said to Hong Chengchou and Sun Chuanting, "Though our army has suffered a minor setback, there is no great harm. His Majesty is earnestly hopeful; it would be best not to alarm or distress the imperial heart!"

He had already resolved to dress up a funeral as a celebration, overturning clouds and rain in his memorial. In any case, with the hundred-plus heads taken by the Shunxiang Army, he could say whatever he pleased. After careful deliberation, Hong Chengchou concurred with Chen Xinjia's intent.

Among the three high-ranking civil officials, Sun Chuanting's rank was low and his words carried little weight. When Chen Xinjia decided to let Ma Ke off, Sun Chuanting was powerless to do anything about it.

The matter was thus decided. Chen Xinjia offered He Renlong a good deal of consolation and sternly reprimanded Shanhai Pass Regional Commander Ma Ke, ordering him to atone for his crimes through service, yet in reality not a single punishment was imposed.

Throughout this series of farces, the various generals stood by gloating and enjoying the spectacle; only Wang Dou sat with his eyes closed in repose, deaf to all outside affairs, as if he had fallen asleep.

This grand and vigorous campaign had turned to bubbles, and the strategy for war had to be planned anew. But unlike the previous day, when Chen Xinjia and Hong Chengchou this time summoned men for the vanguard, no one volunteered. Every general kept his eyes on his nose and his mouth on his heart, terrified that a single word would get them dispatched by Chen Xinjia and Hong Chengchou as vanguard troops.

The lesson of He Renlong's overturned cart was not to be ignored!

Chen Xinjia coughed several times, but no one answered. Finally, the gazes of all the officials and generals in the tent fell, by unspoken agreement, upon Wang Dou.

Wang Dou "awoke," cupped his hands toward the three civil officials at the head, and said: "This humble general is willing to lead his troops as the army's vanguard, to strike directly at the slave camp at Pinggu!"

Seeing that Wang Dou was willing to serve as vanguard, everyone in the tent let out a breath of relief in unison. Chen Xinjia nodded with a smile, full of praise; Hong Chengchou's expression was also mild. Only Sun Chuanting furrowed his brow tightly, looking at the Qin army generals under his command with the frustration of one watching iron refuse to turn to steel.

However, Wang Dou then requested that some cavalry accompany him: "This humble general's command is mostly infantry, while the slaves at Pinggu are mostly cavalry. I require some elite friendly cavalry as escorts, to guard against harassment by slave horsemen."

The moment Wang Dou said this, every general in the tent scrambled to be first, regardless of whether they were from the Qin army, the Guan-Ning army, or the Xuan-Da army — all wished to accompany General Wang. No matter how jealous they might be of Wang Dou in their hearts, given his battle record, and having seen at noon how those Qing soldiers turned pale and lost their nerve at the mere sight of the Shunxiang Army, they knew that taking the Qing camp at Pinggu was only a matter of time. Never mind the first merit of the vanguard — just thinking of the wealth, silk, gold, and silver stockpiled there made their hearts thump with excitement.

Yang Guozhu and Hu Dawei likewise requested to fight; with Wang Dou's great army to bolster their courage, they did not mind seizing another vast haul of gold, silver, and valuables at Pinggu.

But hearing that these two wanted to fight, Chen Xinjia hesitated. The vanguard troops, needless to say, should be the strongest unit among the Tongzhou Ming forces — Wang Dou's division. Yet with the day's battle having seen the Qing army press all the way to the front of his Tongzhou main camp, Chen Xinjia harbored some private calculations.

Looking around, among the hundred thousand Ming troops at Tongzhou, only his own Xuan-Da army's Yang Guozhu, Hu Dawei, and Wang Dou were truly capable of fighting.

If Wang Dou went, and Yang Guozhu and Hu Dawei were also dispatched, should anything untoward happen...

Chen Xinjia smiled at Yang Guozhu and Hu Dawei and said, "You two generals have already achieved ample merit. Better to remain with this Viceroy and guard Tongzhou, protecting the army's critical supply base."

Yang Guozhu and Hu Dawei could only obey. The generals in the tent breathed a sigh of relief, then burst into laughter. Afterward, they looked eagerly at Chen Xinjia and Hong Chengchou, hoping to be sent with Wang Dou.

The morale and fighting spirit of the generals were usable; Chen Xinjia and Hong Chengchou were quite satisfied. The two conferred in low voices, calculating which unit to send with Wang Dou.

Having heard what Chen Xinjia said earlier, Wang Dou knew it was time to state his conditions. With his two old partners Yang Guozhu and Hu Dawei unable to go with him, he had no desire for Chen Xinjia to send along some runaway generals, causing his own Pinggu campaign to end up the same way as He Renlong's.

He cupped his hands in salute: "Your Excellencies the two Viceroys, and Provincial Governor Sun: among the Guan-Ning troops, Yutian Regional Commander Military Gate Cao and Qiantun Guard Regional Commander Military Gate Wang are fierce and valiant in battle, loyal of heart and righteous of spirit. This humble general has always admired them, and I am willing to fight shoulder to shoulder with these two Military Gates to take the slave camp at Pinggu together!"

Hearing Wang Dou say this, Yutian Regional Commander Cao Bianjiao and Qiantun Guard Regional Commander Wang Tingchen felt both surprised and greatly honored. The two stepped forward, clasped their fists, and declared in loud voices: "We are willing to follow General Wang into battle, to slay generals and seize banners, and to seek out the enemy chieftain's head as a proclamation of great victory!"

Chen Xinjia smiled and said, "Good, good. That you three generals possess such devotion to the nation fills this Viceroy with deep satisfaction!"

He suddenly felt that he was extraordinarily magnanimous. Wang Dou was growing more and more overbearing, actually picking his own troops for the campaign, as if he had become the Regional Commander of these hundred thousand troops at Tongzhou. Earlier, when Wang Dou had cast him aside to join Lu Xiangsheng, he had endured it. At Zhuozhou, when Wang Dou had covertly signaled for Yang Guodong, the Company Commander of the Viceroy's Personal Battalion, to transfer to his command, he had endured that too.

And now he was enduring yet again — all for the paramount matter of campaigning on the Emperor's behalf. Men of such broad-mindedness as himself were rare indeed, Chen Xinjia reflected inwardly.

He rose to his feet and declared in a loud voice: "Tomorrow we go forth to battle; a great victory is imperative. At the chen hour tomorrow morning, this Viceroy shall personally pour wine to fortify the three generals setting out!"

That evening, Chen Xinjia composed a victory dispatch, his brush and ink blossoming with color, sketching out all manner of scenes in which the officers and men of the various armies had fought bloody battles against the Qing troops, ultimately raising the banner of triumph and taking several hundred heads, which he sent flying to the capital. Under Chen Xinjia's brush, the army had achieved such a great victory merely upon reaching Tongzhou; taking the enemy at Pinggu and freeing the captive common folk would be an even easier matter.

Chen Xinjia was a Provincial Graduate by origin, his breast full of elegant composition; writing a florid and ornate memorial was naturally no trouble for him. When the memorial reached the capital, the Chongzhen Emperor was overjoyed, issuing decree after decree to commend the three armies, while the common people of the capital rejoiced and surged with excitement — but that is a tale for another time.

Early the next morning, the bitter wind still cut to the bone. The vanguard troops setting out — Wang Dou's Shunxiang Army, and the forces under Yutian Regional Commander Cao Bianjiao and Qiantun Guard Regional Commander Wang Tingchen — all stood in silent formation outside the main camp. There, Chen Xinjia and the others held a grand send-off ceremony for them.

The Shunxiang Army troops setting out comprised: Han Chao's Jia Division, Wen Fangliang's Bing Division, Sun Sanjie's Wu Division, Wen Daxing's Ji Division, Li Guangheng's Geng Division, Zhao Xuan's Xin Division, and others — over four thousand several hundred men in total. Also present was Yang Guodong, Company Commander of the Viceroy's Personal Battalion, likewise standing solemnly with several hundred troops in the central army position.

They were arrayed by company into neat, orderly square formations. Though the cold bit to the bone, every soldier stood ramrod straight, holding spear or musket, not one of them stirring in the slightest. The strict discipline of their military bearing and the murderous atmosphere permeating the air made Chen Xinjia's face turn somewhat pale as he reviewed them; the aura they projected did not seem like that of a Great Ming army — it felt utterly unfamiliar.

Hong Chengchou and Sun Chuanting also watched with ceaseless sighs. The generals riding behind them, meanwhile, were consumed with envy and jealousy.

As Chen Xinjia, Wang Dou, and the others rode past, voices rang out from one square formation after another: "Present arms!"

The clatter of spears being brought together sounded continuously, one square formation after another, the soldiers of each formation moving with uniform precision as if completing the motion simultaneously. The officers in the front ranks drew their sabers and pointed them obliquely, the blades glittering with cold light.

All their gazes turned toward them — uniform in their eight-petaled iron-tipped caps, uniform in their red cotton cloaks trimmed with sheep's wool — seeming to form a vast, unified power as if ten thousand men were one. Being stared at by these wolf-like, tiger-fierce soldiers, Chen Xinjia, mounted on his horse, felt extremely uneasy.

He also felt that the Shunxiang Army seemed somewhat too numerous; Wang Dou was merely a Mobile Corps Commander, yet here there were already over four thousand several hundred men. Nominally, he had over a thousand several hundred logistics troops and civilian laborers, but those logistics troops and civilian laborers... were they really logistics troops?

Only when they reached the troops of Yutian Regional Commander Cao Bianjiao and Regional Commander Wang Tingchen did Chen Xinjia breathe a sigh of relief, finding some of that familiar feeling of the Great Ming's official armies. The men behind him also let out a collective breath of relief.

Cao Bianjiao's garrison troops numbered over five thousand — three thousand in his main battalion, plus two Mobile Corps Commanders each leading over a thousand men. They were all cavalry, uniformly clad in bright red front-buttoned padded armor. Moreover, more than half of them were firearm cavalry; those soldiers all carried three-barreled hand cannons in their hands.

Wang Tingchen's troops numbered fewer than three thousand. On this expedition to guard the capital, he was a bare-pole Regional Commander with no attachments; though all were cavalry, their numbers did not reach three thousand. Like Cao Bianjiao's troops, the majority of their cavalry also carried three-barreled hand cannons.

After drinking Chen Xinjia's send-off wine, Wang Dou hurled the bowl to the ground; Cao Bianjiao and Wang Tingchen did the same!

Wang Dou vaulted onto his horse. With a ringing clang like a dragon's cry, he drew his imperial-granted sword and, without a word, rode to the front of his own army's formation.

He slowly rode his horse forward, his long sword pointing obliquely, passing before one square formation after another. Every soldier of the Shunxiang Army fixed both eyes upon Wang Dou.

The sound of long spears thudding against the ground rose, along with the rhythmic clatter of great blades striking shields.

"Mighty and fierce!"

"Mighty and fierce!"

A deep, rhythmic chant arose.

Wang Dou suddenly thrust his sharp sword forward and shouted: "Our Shunxiang Army!"

A tidal wave of cheers erupted: "Mighty and fierce!"

"Our Shunxiang Army!"

"Mighty and fierce!"

"Mighty and fierce! Mighty and fierce!"

The powerful cheers rose wave upon wave. Watching their martial spirit and morale, every officer and general present was intoxicated and entranced. The troops under Cao Bianjiao and Wang Tingchen also stared dumbfounded at the cheering Shunxiang soldiers.

Inside Cao Bianjiao’s formation, Mobile Corps Commander Yang Shaofan sighed: “A true man should be just like this!”