Chapter 717: Inextricably Locked

On the seventh day of the ninth month, urged by Yang Wenyue, Ding Qirui issued orders summoning all officials and commanders to convene the seventh council within the Viceroy’s field headquarters in Kaifeng City. At that moment, he sat stroking his long beard, his face tilted slightly upward, maintaining an impassive demeanor, striving with all his might to preserve the Viceroy’s dignified bearing — though inwardly, his head ached terribly.

The hall where they had just been deliberating still echoed with all manner of coarse and furious voices: Hu Dawei, Jiang Mingwu, and others had clashed fiercely with Zuo Liangyu and his faction. Yet Ding Qirui could only sit there, interjecting a few words of persuasion now and then.

Although he was the Viceroy, he held virtually no real authority, and it seemed not a single military man took him, Ding Qirui, seriously at all. The post of Viceroy had become a laughingstock.

Apart from secretly fuming at the domineering arrogance of the military men of today, each one wild and untamable, Ding Qirui could do nothing but offer gentle words of counsel — there was no other recourse.

He slowly surveyed each person present. Seated first on the left side was, of course, Baoding Viceroy Yang Wenyue, followed by Henan Provincial Governor Gao Mingheng, Regional Inspector Su Jing, Left Administration Commissioner Liang Bing, Circuit Intendant Su Zhuang, Army Supervisor Guo Zaixu, Prefect Wu Shijiang, and others. Every one of these civil officials wore deeply furrowed brows.

Seated on the right side, Baoding Regional Commander Hu Dawei held the place of honor, followed by Pingze Regional Commander Zuo Liangyu, Henan Regional Commander Chen Yongfu, and the Auxiliary Suppression Regional Commanders Yang Dezheng and Fang Guoan, among others. The remaining subordinate officers, along with Kaifeng Regional Military Commissioners Zhang Wurui, Ren Zhen, Su Jianle, and the like, could only stand in the rear ranks.

However, the former Vice Regional Commander of the Tongzhen Mobile Cavalry Left Battalion — now serving as Assistant Regional Commander of the Baoding Commandery’s Central Army Supervisory Staff — Jiang Mingwu, was also seated among them. Jiang Mingwu was quite valiant and fierce; he had found the earlier snide remarks from Zuo Liangyu and his ilk utterly intolerable and had rebuked them aloud. The quarrel had nearly escalated into a brawl.

Hu Dawei naturally sided with Jiang Mingwu. At that moment, his trusted Central Army commander, Hu Zichen, stood behind him, glaring furiously at Zuo Liangyu’s Assistant Regional Commander Wang Yuncheng and Zuo’s son, Zuo Menggeng. The personal guards on both sides stood with hands on their swords, ready to draw at any moment.

Chen Yongfu urged both sides to make peace. Yang Dezheng and Fang Guoan also tried to smooth things over, but both openly and covertly, they leaned more toward Zuo Liangyu.

Earlier, their two garrisons had been ambushed several times by the roving bandits, suffering heavy losses in troops and horses, and had been forced to press-gang some refugees and starving soldiers to fill their ranks. In contrast, Zuo Liangyu had inflicted a great defeat on the roving bandits at Shangcai, recruiting tens of thousands of soldiers, his prestige growing ever greater.

Moreover, Zuo Liangyu’s way of doing things suited their tastes perfectly. To say nothing else, on the matter of killing the innocent to claim credit for merit, the three of them shared considerable common ground. Seeing Hu Dawei and the others as stubborn and inflexible, the two naturally gravitated with all their might toward Zuo Liangyu, forming a covert alliance.

The discord among the various garrisons gave all the civil officials headaches. Yet they still had to rely on these men to fight the battles. When the Regional Commanders had been quarreling earlier, Yang Wenyue had naturally joined in trying to mediate. Preoccupied with the roving bandits pressing ever closer, he earnestly and tirelessly tried to persuade Zuo Liangyu.

His official speech, tinged with the accent of his native Nanchong in Sichuan, echoed through the hall: "Grand General, your might awes the realm, and the state has showered you with favor and high honors. Now the great bandit host threatens Bianliang, and peril is imminent. If you merely sit and watch, and the roving bandits seize Bianliang, how will the Grand General ever face the imperial court again?"

Yang Wenyue’s outstretched fingers still trembled, betraying the anguish in his heart. Seeing Yang Wenyue trying to stir him with appeals to righteous duty, Zuo Liangyu merely replied flatly, "The government troops are few and weak; the bandit soldiers are sharp and fierce. If we rashly sally forth from the city to give battle, I fear we may suffer a defeat — and then what would the capital of Bianliang have left to rely upon? This general’s intent is simply to act with prudent caution!"

Yang Dezheng and Fang Guoan chimed in repeatedly in agreement. Yang Dezheng added, "What Regional Commander Zuo says is absolutely correct. We should mass our troops in this strong city and seek the right opportunity to exterminate the bandits — that is far better than rushing out to battle. This is the most superior of strategies!"

Watching the three of them, Jiang Mingwu merely sneered. Yang Wenyue once again pleaded earnestly, laying out the facts and reasoning.

Zuo Liangyu remained silent, deep in thought. He stroked his sumptuous, thick raccoon-dog fur cloak, seeming somewhat moved. Yang Wenyue was overjoyed and redoubled his efforts to persuade him. All the civil officials in the hall likewise joined in the persuasion. A smug smile spread across Zuo Liangyu’s face.

In truth, over the past few days he had pondered the matter repeatedly and felt that Yang Wenyue’s strategy was not bad. The government forces nominally numbered four hundred thousand; though they did not actually have that many, a hundred thousand and more they certainly did. While he could not guarantee these troops could utterly defeat the roving bandits, they could at least hold an invincible position. And if they won…

After weighing it over and over, he too was tempted. The reason he had delayed so long in agreeing was merely to strike a pose and put on airs.

Furthermore, a large portion of the ten thousand bird guns from the court had been allocated to his camp, and he had yet to spend much of the money for purchasing them. Zuo Liangyu could be said to be utterly enamored with these firearms. Although he detested Wang Dou, he could not deny that the weapons Wang Dou manufactured were truly excellent.

Out of consideration for cost, Zuo Liangyu rarely equipped his army with firearms on a large scale. But if there was a supply of cheap yet superb firearms, he naturally would not refuse.

Moreover, everyone in the hall — from the Viceroy to the Grand Coordinator to the local Provincial Governor — had given him full face. Zuo Liangyu’s countenance was radiant beyond compare. At last, he relented and, going with the flow, agreed. Instantly, the hall was filled with joy. Only Zuo Liangyu inwardly sneered with contempt: What Viceroy? What Grand Coordinator? As long as I, old master, have troops, that is everything.

Seeing that Zuo Liangyu had finally resolutely agreed and no longer shrank from battle out of fear, an embarrassed expression surfaced on Jiang Mingwu’s face. Although he had abandoned the classics for the military life and was a Military Metropolitan Graduate, he was a man who drew a clear line between gratitude and grievance, forthright and generous by nature. He felt he had previously misunderstood Zuo Liangyu, measuring a gentleman’s heart with a petty man’s measure.

He rose and, with sincere emotion, apologized to Zuo Liangyu: "This humble officer was disrespectful earlier; I beg Regional Commander Zuo to mete out punishment!"

Zuo Liangyu swept aside his sumptuous thick raccoon-dog fur cloak, strode forward a step, and lifted Jiang Mingwu by both arms. His tone was stern as he declared emphatically, "Brother Jiang, do you truly take me, this regional commander, for such a petty, narrow-minded man?"

His gaze was commanding, his expression earnest: "The earlier dispute was merely a difference in military strategy among the various garrisons. Yet it was all directed at the matter, not the person — all stemming from a public-spirited heart, solely for the Great Ming court. This was no personal grudge or clash of tempers. Brother Jiang, why go to such lengths?"

"Well said!"

"Regional Commander Zuo speaks well!"

The officials and commanders in the hall burst into cheers of approval. Yang Wenyue laughed heartily; seeing that he had persuaded Zuo Liangyu, he felt a trace of pride within. Hu Dawei and Chen Yongfu exchanged smiles, both feeling that while Zuo Liangyu might be a difficult man to get along with, on matters of principle, he stood firm.

Ding Qirui was also overjoyed. With all the garrisons united in purpose, high and low of one mind, this battle would surely crush the roving bandits. He declared loudly, "We pledge our loyalty in this hour of peril; may this loyal devotion endure as long as the rivers and mountains!"

What followed was an atmosphere of complete harmony. Ding Qirui and Yang Wenyue spoke in turn, one after another, and then the various commanders occasionally interjected a few words. The strategy was laid out and confirmed point by point. It was decided to commit all their elite troops and fight a life-or-death struggle with the roving bandits in the area around Zhuxian Town. Ding Qirui even rose from his seat and bowed deeply to everyone: "This concerns the rise or fall of the Imperial Ming, the safety of our dynasty and state. I entrust this to you, gentlemen!"

Yang Wenyue and the others wore grave expressions. Hu Dawei, Zuo Liangyu, and the rest also stood at attention together. The assembled men roared: "We vow to die for the imperial court!"

…

On the ninth day of the ninth month of the fifteenth year of Chongzhen, Ding Qirui led over one hundred thousand Ming troops from several garrisons — nominally four hundred thousand — in a vast, sweeping march to the Zhuxian Town area, where they assembled and set up camp, erecting tall stockades. They resolved to confront the bandits on this broad expanse of flatland, arraying their spears and halberds in formation to meet them.

At this time, Li Zicheng and the forces of the other two factions, claiming a million men, simultaneously pressed forward to the Chenliu and Zhuxian Town area. The two sides set up their camps ten li apart. Ding Qirui established his main command tent at Zhuxian Town. Li Zicheng set his base camp near Tongxu, by the banks of the Sha River, his encampments and shelters stretching endlessly.

At this moment, the bandits’ arrogance was rampant, but the morale of the government troops was no less resolute. A bloody battle was unavoidable.

Countless people were watching this great battle that would decide life or death. If the government troops won, not only would the siege of Kaifeng be lifted immediately, but they could also annihilate the main force of the roving bandits, ridding the court of this grievous inner threat. If Li Zicheng and his allies won, they could crush the Ming army’s main strength, leaving the roving bandits without a rival in the Central Plains, and Kaifeng City would become a prize ready for the taking.

On the eleventh day of the ninth month of the fifteenth year of Chongzhen, the two sides took the field, deploying their troops and arrays, both assuming a posture of decisive battle. On the Ming side, Ding Qirui’s Viceroy’s Personal Battalion and Yang Wenyue’s Baoding war-wagon camp formed the center; Zuo Liangyu, Yang Dezheng, and Fang Guoan’s three garrisons formed the left wing; Hu Dawei, Chen Yongfu, and Jiang Mingwu’s three garrisons formed the right wing.

This was because Ding Qirui had taken into account that Zuo Liangyu and the others had many troops but of mixed quality, and so placed the larger body of troops on the left wing. Hu Dawei and the others had fewer men, but their troops were elite — sufficient to hold one wing. Additionally, cavalry from the various garrisons and local irregular troops were positioned in the rear to serve as reserve forces for the entire battle formation.

To boost the soldiers’ morale, Ding Qirui personally beat the war drums, shouting, "Kill the bandits! Kill the bandits!"

Li Zicheng employed his same old tactic, sending an endless stream of starving civilians to assault the formations. However, he used the starving soldiers only to attack the center, while attacking both wings with cavalry, surging forward like the tide.

As an observer, Wen Shiyan was positioned in the center army to watch the battle. Beside him were some advisors and military officers from the observation group. That squad of Jingbian Army bird-gun soldiers also followed in the rear as guards. They saw the human tide on both sides like a sea, banners like a forest, the atmosphere brimming with sky-challenging battle fervor.

One vast, continuous formation after another of the roving bandits advanced. At the very front were the dense, dark masses of starving civilians, followed by formation after formation of long-spear troops. On their own center army’s position, ten thousand Baoding war-wagon soldiers stood in strict readiness. Their war wagons were arrayed row upon row, loaded with all manner of Frankish cannons and bandit-exterminating guns.

The war drums on the opposite side thundered. Countless starving civilians let out a battle cry and advanced across the entire line like a moving wall, surging forward like a human tide. The Baoding war-wagon camp was superbly trained; Yang Wenyue had poured untold effort into it. His trusted commander, Ding Hu, was likewise a veteran of many battlefields. They remained strictly immobile, even when the roving bandits pressed within one li, still awaiting orders.

Suddenly, a signal cannon boomed from the center formation. All the soldiers watched the direction indicated by the banners. A swan-call horn sounded, and the government troops of the center formation roared in unison: "Hu!"

Ding Hu drew his battle blade in one swift motion, pointing it forward. The shrill swan-call horn sounded again, and in an instant, the thunderous roar of cannon fire erupted.

Yang Wenyue had built war wagons on a large scale, and further employed wagons of different heights to fire their weapons in rotation. His entire camp’s war wagons were divided into three classes. The first class, positioned at the very front, were two chi and five cun high. The second class, behind them, were three chi and five cun high. The third class, further behind still, were four chi and five cun high. These war wagons were arrayed in three tiers.

At the first long horn blast, the first-class wagon cannons fired. At the second long horn blast, the second-class wagon cannons fired, while the first-class wagons were reloaded with powder. At the third long horn blast, the third-class wagon cannons fired, the second-class wagons were reloaded, and the first-class wagon cannons fired again. The three units proceeded in a calm and orderly manner, the cannon fire continuous and unceasing.

Amidst blast after blast of the swan-call horns, cannonballs poured forth like a rainstorm. The starving civilians charging the formation suffered ghastly casualties; many units collapsed entirely before even reaching close range. Many cannonballs also shot into the infantry formations behind, causing the roving bandit infantry following the starving civilians to collapse one after another as well.

Even when the density of cannon fire was sometimes insufficient and some frenzied starving civilians managed to charge up close, behind the front row of war wagons, each wagon had four accompanying gunners. They were divided into two squads, each squad manning two guns, bracing their three-eyed guns on the war wagons.

At the first beat of the gong within the formation, the soldiers of the first squad fired one barrel of their three-eyed guns, all firing simultaneously. At the second beat of the gong, they fired the second barrel. At the third beat of the gong, they fired the third barrel. Then the first squad withdrew, and the second squad advanced. The three-eyed guns fired in ceaseless rotation, felling wave after wave of starving civilians before the formation.

At times, when the swan-call horn blew, the cannons on the war wagons all fired a volley of grapeshot together…

A Jingbian Army advisor beside him saw the thick smoke billowing ahead, the roving bandits being slaughtered in countless numbers by cannon and gunfire, their wails filling the wilderness, and then another wave of roving bandits routed, with cavalry charging out from behind the formation to pursue and cut them down. He could not help but praise, "Viceroy Yang’s war-wagon camp is truly well-drilled. If the roving bandits think they can take our center formation, I fear it is a vain hope."

The smoke from the Frankish cannons made it difficult for Wen Shiyan to see the front lines clearly. He shook his head and said, "I fear it won’t be that simple."

He looked toward the two wings. On the right wing, Hu Dawei, Chen Yongfu, and Jiang Mingwu had drawn up their formations in strict order. Their six thousand new army troops were in front, with about seven thousand cavalry behind. Facing the bandit cavalry’s attacks, their great formation remained disciplined. He saw the crackling rattle of volley after volley of musketry from that side; swathes of roving bandit horse soldiers were struck down, the agonized screams of horses unceasing. Then Hu Dawei’s and Chen Yongfu’s cavalry sallied forth, reaping considerable gains.

Although Jiang Mingwu had only two thousand men, he did his utmost to deploy the three-eyed gunners and archers within his camp to supplement the firepower of the two garrisons’ new army, and then personally led his remaining five hundred cavalry, repeatedly charging into battle himself, engaging the bandits in ferocious combat. The right wing likewise remained as steady as Mount Tai.

As for the left wing, although the various garrisons there had been allocated a fair number of Eastern Route firearms, their firing appeared somewhat disordered. There were even several instances of gunners losing patience and opening fire before the bandit cavalry had entered range. But they had many troops and many commanders. This time, Zuo Liangyu also fought with great tenacity; his son, Zuo Menggeng, personally led their household retainers in several charges.

Inspired by Zuo Menggeng, Yang Dezheng and Fang Guoan likewise led their household retainers in several fierce engagements, repelling several bandit cavalry attacks. One military formation after another on the left wing stood firm and unyielding.

Although Wen Shiyan was somewhat irritated that Ding Qirui and the others had not heeded his advice to strictly guard against the roving bandits’ artillery, the performance of the government troops so far had exceeded his expectations. He hoped they would keep performing like this. With such morale, even if the roving bandits deployed their large Frankish cannons, they could endure it.

"Kill the bandits! Kill the bandits!"

Amid earth-shaking battle cries, Ding Qirui kept pounding the war drums with all his might, persisting without rest for several double-hours. The morning battle raged from the hour of Chen to the hour of Si, leaving the plain strewn with casualties — a dense carpet of corpses as far as the eye could see. Near noon, the roving bandits withdrew their troops of their own accord, and the Ming army erupted in jubilation.

The assembled officers exchanged elated glances. Ding Qirui and Yang Wenyue were especially high-spirited. Both believed that the current strategy of drawing up formations and fighting a battle of attrition against the bandits was correct. The government troops had their backs to a strong city, with an uninterrupted flow of provisions — even if there were occasional disruptions, on the whole it was stable.

The roving bandits, by contrast, would find it extremely difficult to supply provisions for an army of a million men.

"Our army's objective is to hold firm — hold until the bandits collapse and defeat themselves. Then we can settle the Central Plains in one decisive stroke!"

At the hour of Wei in the afternoon, the roving bandit camp once more launched an assault on the Ming army. This time they did not commit their cavalry; they used only wave after tide-like wave of starving refugees and foot soldiers to attack the center and both wings. Dense formations of mounted troops also massed, roaming and probing beyond the main battle lines, searching for a gap in the Ming army's defenses.

The two sides fought locked in a bitter, indecisive struggle. The roving bandit camp had the advantage of overwhelming numbers, while the government troops prevailed through superior firearms. A thick, cloying stench of blood hung over this stretch of plain. Ding Qirui maneuvered his forces, constantly rotating out exhausted men and horses and feeding fresh units into the line — and the roving bandit camp did likewise. (To be continued..)

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