Chapter 702: A Fight to the Death It Shall Be

Because his troops were exhausted and night was falling, Li Zicheng ordered a halt to the attack and simply had dense camps set up along the left bank of the Xiangshui River. He was certain that, with his own great army massed and both infantry and cavalry assembled, Cao Bianjiao would not dare march again today either.

The vast, sprawling Chuang army covered the fields, setting up camp in separate divisions everywhere, their banners a dark mass like storm clouds. In a steady stream, along every road and across every stretch of flat open ground, more and more foot soldiers and famine troops kept arriving, and the din of noise never ceased.

Li Zicheng’s main tent was set up in Caizhuang. To guard against a Ming attack, before the infantry camp had finished digging in, tens of thousands of cavalry remained in tight formation, ready to prevent any sudden Ming move.

Those foot soldiers had marched all day and were utterly exhausted, yet under the strict orders of the old camp they were not allowed to rest at once. Every man dug frantically, raising ramparts and setting up camp, sweat pouring like rain. But as more and more famine troops arrived, the work was shifted onto them.

Gazing at the scene of feverish activity before him, Li Zicheng felt immensely proud and confident. The grand strategy was set; his great army had finally closed the encirclement.

It had not been easy. For this battle, he had been laying plans ever since the two court earls, the Jingnan Earl and the Ningnan Earl, came east, and now at last, at a place a few dozen li from Xiayi city, he had managed to entangle and pin down Cao Bianjiao’s cavalry camp and the new army infantry camps of the two garrisons, so that his great army could surround them.

He need only inflict a crushing defeat on Cao Bianjiao here, and the land of Henan would henceforth be his domain!

Like Li Zicheng, every man in the Chuang camp and the Ge and Zuo forces was thrilled, watching eagerly as the foot soldiers dug in and set up camp.

As with the Ge and Zuo forces, there were not many tents in the Chuang army. Apart from the cavalry, a large portion of the foot soldiers lived in dugout pits, and the famine troops even more so. Looking out, it seemed a vast beggar’s camp, but everyone was long accustomed to such crude conditions.

Yuan Zongdi suggested that once the foot soldiers arrived, they should immediately dig trenches not far in front of Cao Bianjiao’s position, but Li Zicheng rejected the idea, fearing it would provoke a furious reaction from Cao Bianjiao.

Besides, the foot soldiers and famine troops were all worn out from the long march. Forcing them now would be counterproductive. The cavalry, having suffered defeat after defeat earlier, were all demoralized and needed rest too. Even if they were to dig trenches to block the enemy, it would have to wait at least until tomorrow.

Of course, to guard against Cao Bianjiao breaking out overnight, he had also taken many precautions — precautions that also guarded against Wang Tingchen’s forces.

"By dawn, at least fifty thousand foot soldiers will have arrived. Cao Bianjiao won't escape even if he sprouts wings!"

Watching the scene before him, the usually steady Gao Yigong, stirred by emotion, could not help but utter this bold declaration.

Indeed, compared to Cao Bianjiao’s Ming army, Li Zicheng’s forces at this moment were overwhelmingly strong.

Among the three allied forces, the Chuang camp alone had over forty thousand cavalry and a hundred thousand foot soldiers. The five camps of Ge and Zuo had fifteen thousand cavalry and fifty thousand foot soldiers. Luo Rucai, Sun Kewang, Li Dingguo, and the others had fewer — over four thousand cavalry and thirty to forty thousand foot soldiers.

Combined, the three forces had sixty thousand cavalry and two hundred thousand foot soldiers, with coerced followers beyond counting — so many that even Li Zicheng and his men did not know the exact number, though it must have been several hundred thousand at least.

The strength of the roving camps swelled with such speed. In early Chongzhen 14, Li Zicheng had been beaten by the Shunxiang army and fled into the mountains, yet in barely a year his power far surpassed what it had been before. Moreover, his infantry camp was now even more elite.

After all, when Li Zicheng crushed Fu Zonglong, tens of thousands of troops from Sichuan and Shaanxi all went over to Li Chuang. At the end of Chongzhen 14, he took over ten cities in succession — Xuzhou, Tongxu, Weishi, and others — and with each city that fell, the government troops surrendered wholesale. He also killed famous generals like Meng Ruhu and Sun Yingyuan and absorbed some of their subordinates.

The traces of history had also shifted slightly. Because he had allied with Ge and Zuo earlier, his momentum was greater — fully equal to, or even surpassing, the historical strength he had during the three assaults on Kaifeng, when he possessed "a hundred thousand foot bandits, thirty thousand horse bandits, and nearly a million coerced followers."

Moreover, Li Zicheng’s greatest advantage was that after casualties and losses, his forces could be replenished in an endless stream. Though the Chuang cavalry had suffered nearly three thousand casualties before his arrival, they need only seize horses and mules to promote some foot soldiers into the cavalry. And when infantry died, they could be endlessly replaced from the famine troops.

Although many in his infantry camp were former government troops, their combat effectiveness was generally higher than before.

The Chuang camp now practiced egalitarianism, treating officers and soldiers essentially the same. Though some enjoyed fewer privileges than before, the old practices of embezzling payrolls and bleeding the soldiers dry were gone. Everyone endured hardship together, and the soldiers felt psychologically balanced.

Add to that Li Zicheng’s indifference to wine and women, his coarse diet of plain grain, and his sharing of hardships with his men, and the boost to morale could well be imagined.

Amid the outlaws' laughter, Tian Jianxiu also wore a look of longing. He said, "I hear their new army's long spears are sharp. I wonder how my spear formation would fare against them?"

Li Guo spoke up: "In equal numbers, the righteous army would probably be no match... but they are few, after all. The enemy is sparse, we are many. We need only throw numbers at them and wear them down to death..."

Li Zicheng nodded, quite gratified by his nephew’s maturity. This was exactly his own plan.

Historically, the long-spear formation was also one of the signature tactics of the Chuang army. There was a saying of "thirty thousand foot soldiers with long spears, thrusting and stabbing like flying." In ordinary times, their training was mainly overseen by Tian Jianxiu, who was responsible for logistics and drill.

But this long-spear formation of his, though it paid attention to using long weapons at short range, certainly could not compare to the new army’s spear formation.

Li Zicheng valued the long spear because even if a soldier was not thoroughly trained with it, he could still face the enemy in formation. But if he carried a short weapon and was not skilled with it, it was little better than fighting barehanded.

So in his infantry camp, he had the more elite, higher-combat-effectiveness soldiers practice sword and shield, firearms, and archery. For those of ordinary fighting ability, or those newly entered into the infantry camp, he had them practice the spear formation.

Relying on tight formations gave these lower-quality soldiers a sense of security, passively boosting morale. Moreover, the spearmen in the ranks needed only to hold their spears and thrust — a single motion, making training relatively easy.

Under conditions where logistics and soldier quality were both low, the long spear indeed offered very high cost-effectiveness. As for the famine people, the weapons they used were a motley assortment of every kind.

Watching his own troops arrive in an endless stream, Li Zicheng’s heart surged. He looked toward Cao Bianjiao’s side, but in his mind he was thinking of how to use the famine troops and foot soldiers to wear them down to death.

He had only one regret: that Wang Tingchen had run out first.

The situation had taken a sudden sharp turn for the worse. The joy of one victory after another earlier was utterly spent, and it made Cao Bianjiao and his men realize that they were still trapped deep within the roving bandits' encircling layers.

Watching the Chuang bandit troops arrive in an endless stream, Cao Bianjiao’s heart felt as if it had been soaked in an ice pit — freezing cold, freezing cold. And the Chuang-character banners above were all the more piercing to the eye.

He clenched his teeth, his heart tangled with an indescribable fury and hatred. The officers around him were all silent, fists clenched tight or biting their lower lips. Many had bitten their lips till they bled. Some were furious, others afraid, and among them a few muttered in low voices.

Counting troops was a basic skill for any commander. He did not need them to line up for him to count. Cao Bianjiao could tell at a glance: besides no fewer than ten thousand fresh Chuang bandit cavalry, at least thirty thousand foot soldiers had already arrived before his eyes, and in the distance more and more men and horses were still coming.

They made no attempt whatsoever to conceal their movements, letting the Ming side see everything with perfect clarity.

Although, judging by their military bearing and formation, the combat power of those foot soldiers was far inferior to his own, still, enough ants can bite an elephant to death...

Gazing over there, Cao Bianjiao remained silent for a long time.

"Commander Cao, what do we do?"

The officers around him all pressed him anxiously. The Chuang bandits' main force had arrived. Even the ever-composed personal general Yang Shaofan now showed some worry on his face.

The men were also arguing. Assistant Regional Commander Sun suggested that since the Chuang bandits' infantry camp had just arrived, exhausted and worn out from the long march, they should attack them at once and might achieve some results.

Although after a full day the officers and men were also utterly weary, they could still fight.

But clearly, this suggestion was unworkable, because the roving bandits' cavalry was arrayed in tight formation. If they launched an attack on the bandits' infantry camp, the bandits could likewise launch an attack on their own side, and they would be tangled in battle again. Besides, night was falling — how could they fight?

Cao Bianjiao ultimately gave the order to set up camp. Whatever else, conserving strength and sharpening their edge was paramount. After a full day under the watchful eyes of surrounding enemies, many officers and men were under intense mental strain and needed to relax.

The camp was set up. The Chuang bandits' dead and wounded horses were taken for food and drink, which at last brought some comfort to the exhausted troops.

But the officers were not allowed to rest. All officers of Company Commander rank and above were gathered in Cao Bianjiao’s main tent to discuss strategy.

"Let's raid the camp."

Some officers and advisors proposed a night raid.

At this time, relatively few men in the army’s cavalry and new army suffered from night blindness, and their organizational strength was comparatively higher, which provided the conditions for night operations.

They had also seen the Chuang bandits' camp. Although deep trenches had been dug all around and some earthen ramparts and palisades thrown up, to their eyes it was still crude. If they could just creep up to the camp front, whether they fought their way in or merely set fires and beat gongs to cause panic, they could accomplish something.

But some opposed this. Clearly the Chuang bandits had come prepared. Though night had just fallen, it was evident that every camp and every sector was brightly lit with lamps, and sentry posts and patrol horsemen were everywhere. To creep up unseen and unheard for a raid was impossible.

Cao Bianjiao also slowly shook his head. He could clearly see that wooden stakes had been erected in front of every roving bandit camp, some doused with oil or grease. When lit, they blazed like giant torches, illuminating the open ground before the camp with brilliant clarity. Even the famine troop camps were the same, and night patrol squads came one after another. How could they launch a night raid?

Oil and grease were not cheap. Clearly the Chuang bandits had invested heavily, or perhaps they had learned the lesson from being night-raided by the Shunxiang army back at Luoyang.

Someone else proposed fleeing under cover of night. Xiayi was no more than fifty or sixty li away; by forced march, they might reach it by tomorrow morning.

But this proposal was also opposed. The opponents argued that the roving bandits were paying extremely close attention to their movements, with scout riders densely deployed, circling in rounds outside. How would they just watch idly while the Ming army fled?

Our own scouts had already discovered that the roving bandits, in the direction of Chaoyi not far from our camp, had at least twenty thousand mounted troops encamped, men and horses still in armor. The moment they got wind of any movement, they could tie us down.

Not to mention their infantry, the remaining mounted troops would also swarm in. If both sides fought in the dark, even if the enemy fell into disorder, our own side would be equally chaotic, and the infantry might even scatter in a single stampede — that outcome would be even more terrifying.

How great is the noise of several thousand troops and horses moving? It is impossible to move silently, so night travel is out of the question.

And it still comes back to that same point: even now, the cavalry can escape, but the infantry cannot.

Watching the commanders argue into a boiling pot, one proposal after another raised and then shot down by the others, Cao Bianjiao's heart instead grew calm. No matter how many roving bandits had arrived, soldiers would come to block, water would come to be dammed by earth — just keep fighting, fight to the death!

Tonight, conserve strength and sharpen weapons! (To be continued...)