[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army":3,"chapter-a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-790":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","A Little Soldier of the Late Ming Border Army",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1206079,1561,"Chapter 790: Walls of Bronze and Ramparts of Iron","a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-790",790,"\u003Cp>The Distant Watch Gully wound its way toward the Qinling range. Though the southern plain looked flat and even, smaller gullies requiring detours appeared from time to time, along with ruins of Han cities and Tang cities, all of which had become parts of the local garrison forts and military forts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The group spurred their horses to the southern end of the plain. The Distant Watch Gully slanted westward, intersecting and crisscrossing with the Forbidden Gully and at least a dozen other gullies, forming an extremely complex area in the southwest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Standing at the gully's edge, the drop at the bottom here was relatively gentle, but more prominent were the natural terraced defensive landforms, like enormous blocks of terraced fields.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Each \"terrace\" had steep vertical slopes, nearly all at ninety degrees, with heights ranging from one zhang, half a zhang, to two or three zhang — terrain highly advantageous for defense.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Everyone's gaze crossed the gully floor toward the southeast. Above the gully lay a large plain dotted with garrison forts. A few li further southeast beyond that plain, across a large gully the locals called Slant Gully, was an even larger plain, home to guard battalion garrison forts such as the Dai-character Camp.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Our forces could deploy troops at the Dai-character Camp. If the bandits attack this side of the Distant Watch Gully, our forces could hold the high ground, strike their rear flank, and throw their troops into chaos.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A staff officer put forward the suggestion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sun Chuanting was somewhat tempted, but ultimately shook his head. Deploying troops there to strike the enemy's rear and belly was an enticing idea, but once the great battle began, those troops would find it very difficult to coordinate with the main force here. An isolated force outside — there were too many variables.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If the roving bandits discovered that force, they would certainly not sit idly by; they might cross Slant Gully and attack its flank. And if Slant Gully also had to be defended, the required troop strength would be far too great. Better to concentrate forces and focus solely on defending the Distant Watch Gully and the others.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sun Chuanting quickly made his decision: \"Within the next few days, all garrison forts and guard battalions east of the Distant Watch Gully are to be completely evacuated, lest they be used by the bandits.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The Forbidden Gully!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sun Chuanting and the others traveled westward again, and finally gazed at the deep gully before them — the renowned Forbidden Gully, famous through the ages.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This \"blockade trench,\" several dozen li long, completely severed passage between east and west. The gully was both deep and broad, with sheer loess walls, wild trees and weeds growing rampant, and very few gentle spots. Together with Tong Gully, it formed a long, narrow plain called Tongluochuan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the loess ridges above, beacon towers stood one after another; at key points on the gully floor, there were also forts, each garrisoning anywhere from a hundred to three hundred soldiers, with walls even connecting to the fire-road mounds on the plains on either side.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The staff officers at his side marveled at the strategic impregnability of the Forbidden Gully and the Twelve Linked Cities.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sun Chuanting, however, frowned for a long while. These fire-road mounds and bastions could not be called anything but formidable. Yet his inspection of Taojiazhuang had cast a shadow. If they were still garrisoned by local guard battalion troops, they could very well be overrun by the bandits in a single assault. Therefore, every man must be replaced.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Over on that side, Wen Shiyan, Wu Zhengchun, and the others were whispering among themselves, clearly sharing the same opinion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their concern was not without reason. Historically, when Bai Guangen defended the Forbidden Gully and Tongluochuan, he was routed by Li Zicheng in a single charge. Gao Jie up on the western plain was so frightened that he fled immediately. Their routed troops fled into the Nanshui Pass, and the Chuang army pursued them in, seizing the opportunity — Tongguan city fell.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whether a fort is strong or not is intimately tied to the men who hold it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sure enough, when the group descended from the southern plain west into a fort at the bottom of the Forbidden Gully, of the hundred-odd soldiers supposed to garrison it, there were fewer than ten men — and those were men so old they could barely walk. When asked where the fort's Squad Commander had gone, those few men only knew how to kowtow. Through generations of garrison duty, their military speech had devolved into local rustic dialect; Sun Chuanting could not understand a word.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was Zhang Eryou who said, embarrassed, that the Squad Commander had taken two of his retainers to Haochayu Pass to do business. Some merchants from Luonan and Shangzhou would cross the Qinling range to do trade at Tongguan, and Haochayu Pass was a route many merchants traveled, so there were some shops at the pass. That Squad Commander...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Zhang Eryou, arrest that scoundrel at once, behead him, and display his head publicly, to enforce military law!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sun Chuanting shouted sternly, his face ashen, murderous intent radiating from him, no longer able to contain the fury in his chest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Eryou bit his lower lip, cupped his hands, and said, \"Yes!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The staff officers around him all wore grave expressions. Wu Zhengchun and the others fell silent as well. That Company Commander at Taojiazhuang was still hoeing the ground beside his fort, while this Squad Commander had abandoned his post and gone all the way to a distant pass. With the great enemy about to arrive, there was no reason for him to keep his life.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After that, Sun Chuanting kept a cold face and did not speak a single word, only riding his horse along the gully floor. The others followed behind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The valley walls rose sheer, thickets and tangled vines everywhere. Anyone who had walked the Hangu Pass road would have felt as if they were on the ancient Hangu road.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, the floor of the Forbidden Gully was quite flat and broad, about ten-odd zhang wide. The winding gully stream flowed slowly by, and along its banks were quite a few wheat fields and vegetable plots. Even if cultivation on the gully floor was forbidden, in the face of livelihood, all prohibitions were empty talk.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sun Chuanting, his face cold, passed several more checkpoints. Several more officers were about to lose their heads. Zhang Eryou said nothing more; he had already issued repeated orders, summoned the garrison officers for councils, and emphasized the importance of defense. They had not taken it seriously; if they lost their lives, they had only themselves to blame.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing the lax defenses of the Forbidden Gully, everyone around felt a heavy heart. Had they not inspected and toured the area in person, the forbidden ground would have become a thoroughfare, the roving bandits would have outflanked the West Gate, and Tongguan would have been in danger of being isolated.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Soon, the party reached the mouth of the gully. Here the gully's slope suddenly steepened, and the Forbidden Gully's waters rushed straight down in a torrent, spraying foam in all directions like a white silk ribbon hanging high, then forming a deep pool below. Green trees shaded the poolside — a famous local scenic spot, the Forbidden Gully Dragon Pool.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Sun Chuanting and the others were in no mood to appreciate it. They descended the gully by a small path, reaching below the western face of the southern plain. Looking up at that plain, it was like a range of rolling hills, with only a few small paths descending westward from the plain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Tong Gully stream came over, merging with the Forbidden Gully stream to form the Tong River, which then flowed toward the Nanshui Pass. Not far from the western bank of the Tong River was Mount Fenghuang. A city wall extended from the Nanshui Pass, winding along Mount Fenghuang. At its southernmost end stood a tower platform, thick and tall, extremely close to Tongluochuan, just a short distance from the Tong River.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That tower platform was Shimen Pass. Its western end was again connected by walls to the West Gate, with numerous enemy watchtowers along it. Together with Tongluochuan, it formed a two-sided firepower strike zone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Everyone gazed at the Tong River and Shimen Pass. One staff officer said, \"Descending from the southern plain is not easy, and if the bandits attack the Nanshui Pass, they must be wary of the Shimen Pass garrison striking their rear and flank. If the bandits attack Shimen Pass, the Tongluochuan garrison can also strike their flank and rear. As long as the Forbidden Gully and Shimen Pass are not lost, the roving bandits cannot outflank us to the West Gate.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sun Chuanting nodded. As long as the Forbidden Gully and Shimen Pass held, how would the bandit troops dare transport troops and provisions in front of the pass? Setting aside the issue of roads, the garrison could seize the moment when they were unprepared and suddenly strike their rear. Any bandit troops that managed to slip through would become rootless duckweed — this was the function of a strategic pass.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With the walls connecting them, moving troops from the South Gate and West Gate to Shimen Pass was easy. If the roving bandits tried to cross the Tong River and round this position, facing firepower strikes from both flanks, they would pay a terrible price.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moreover, ascending westward from Tongluochuan to the western plain, there were still passes at every critical junction, forming a tight defensive line together with the entirety of Tongguan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although there was a bridge in the distance, the group still rode their horses across. The Tong River was a hundred paces wide and not deep at this point, only reaching a man's waist. On horseback, it was even shallower.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Reaching the opposite bank, the city wall was only a few dozen paces from the river — completely within the striking range of the defenders above. Looking south, the valley before them was Tong Gully, roughly the same length as the Forbidden Gully, but over two hundred paces wide. Above the gully lay the western plain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sun Chuanting and the others traveled south for a while, gazing out at Tongluochuan on the left and the western plain on the right. Both plains were densely covered with fire-road mounds and forts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They randomly chose a small fort controlling a road junction and entered. What let Zhang Eryou breathe a sigh of relief was that this fort's Company Commander was actually inside the pass — though in truth he was enthusiastically playing madiao cards with his subordinates, which was also his way of making money.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Provincial Governor's sudden arrival scared him into a cold sweat. This man could be considered \"dutiful in his post,\" and so escaped the danger of losing his head. However, Sun Chuanting passed through the fort without a word and still decided to replace him. The local guard battalion troops could not be used.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Beyond the small fort, behind it was a small path ascending the plain, winding and twisting. The gullies and ravines on either side were full of wheat fields, sparse and patchy, growing poorly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After an unknown length of time, the party ascended the western plain — flat, vast tableland just like the southern plain, dotted with forts and villages. Then, before long, their eyes lit up. They saw the Wei River, and before them several plains of varying elevations.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These were the suburban lands attached to Tongguan city. The plains were densely populated, with houses and buildings spreading all the way to the foot of the western wall. The buildings within the city were also clearly visible. The West Gate tower, the North Gate tower — all were in sight. They even saw the Yellow River.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Along the great road beside the Wei River, a tide of marching soldiers — a crimson flood — was steadily pressing toward Tongguan city.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Standing at the edge of the plain and gazing out, Sun Chuanting exhaled deeply. He said to himself, \"I will certainly hold Tongguan and protect Shaanxi!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That night, Sun Chuanting again disregarded his exhaustion and held an all-night council in his field headquarters with all the officers, officials, and military advisors.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His Provincial Governor's field headquarters was set up on Mount Qilin, near the Upper South Gate. There were main towers and archery towers here, multiple buildings. On the mountain plain were also tower platforms, military barracks, and numerous temples. It was high and commanding, with a broad field of view — perfect as a headquarters location.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not far from Lingyun Gate, atop a city tower, the great banner of \"Commander of the Three Armies\" flew high.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this moment, lanterns blazed on all three levels. Military advisors and staff officers came and went busily. On the topmost level, the mercenary army's camp advisors were all busy hanging maps and setting up sand tables, arranging the place into the semblance of a command center. The two lower levels also had their respective duties.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Watching the mercenaries bustling about, Wu Zhengchun, Gao Xun, Wen Shiyan, and the others were also whispering among themselves. Sun Chuanting suddenly felt as if there was no place for him to step in.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He watched the advisors at work, following the map markings, continuously piecing together the various sand tables they had carried in. Then the terrain around Tongguan appeared before his eyes — especially the Distant Watch Gully and Forbidden Gully they had inspected that day, rendered in exhaustive detail, as if the mountains and rivers had been condensed before his very eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He also watched Wu Zhengchun, the advisors, and the others continuously marking key positions and planting various small flags. Indeed, the situation became clear at a glance. Sun Chuanting thought to himself, \"In the future, this Tongguan sand table must be kept in my own hands.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He listened to the mercenaries whispering among themselves, writing and drawing, continuously listing out all manner of items. The thoroughness of their planning was staggering.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For example, defending the Distant Watch Gully: for the entire gully, how many strategic points there were, how many places needed defending, how many sections of protective wall needed to be built, how many troops each place required, how they should coordinate with each other, how their logistics should be supplied — and even numbered designations: Number One, Number Two, Number Three.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even medical aid and evacuation, the names of each officer, the composition of troop types, and so on — it made one's head spin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sun Chuanting thought to himself, \"Since the emergence of the Jingbian Army, the form of warfare has become completely different from the past.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>During his years out of office, the aides he had gathered could be considered elite, yet now they could only assist those staff officers, doing errands and hauling things.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The lack of talent was the greatest gap between himself and Wang Dou.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>According to the plans collected by Wen Shiyan from the camp staff officers, which were finally delivered into Wu Zhengchun’s hands and reported to Sun Chuanting, the defense of Tongguan involved numerous affairs, but two points were given priority: first, repairing the Yuanwang Gully defense line; second, relocating all the garrison farms and guard battalions east of Yuanwang Gully.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The staff officers calculated the local cost of living and the likely property losses. For relocating these military households, they felt it best to compensate each household with ten silver taels. After moving them south of the plain or west of the plain, they could also be given some logistical work and provided with rations.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If the military households south of the plain eventually had to be relocated, it would be handled the same way.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ten silver taels per household?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Several close aides beside Sun Chuanting nearly cried out in alarm. In wartime, stripping the countryside bare was necessary, but it had always been done by a single order from the authorities, with the common people forcibly compelled. What compensation was there ever? At most, a little gruel was distributed. That was already considered the height of benevolence and righteousness. And now ten taels per household?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only Zhang Eryou’s eyes lit up. If the military households all received compensation, at least they could get through this year safe and sound.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sun Chuanting’s expression was grim. Ten taels compensation per household. The total would not be a small sum. Although he had borrowed two million taels of silver, money was flowing out like water, with enormous daily expenses. And no one knew how long the battle of Tongguan would last…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the end, he steeled his heart. Since he was already two million taels in debt, at worst he would spend it all and borrow more. He waved his hand and said in a deep voice, “Do as General Wu proposes.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wu Zhengchun praised him sincerely: “The Viceroy shows compassion for the people. This lowly general is full of admiration.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Looking at that admiring face, Sun Chuanting felt an urge to vent, but could not bring himself to do so.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>……\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Eryou, the tenth-generation hereditary Guard Commander of Tongguan Guard, was by nature quiet and serene, yet now he could not suppress the excitement in his heart. As the local defending general, his task, of course, was to carry out the Viceroy’s order and lead the military households and civilians of the eastern plain in relocation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At first, when he summoned the officers of the various guard battalions and garrison farms to announce the matter, everyone was still half-believing and half-doubting. But when he led his own retainers, along with Master Hu’s cavalry, carrying cases of silver coins, to a military fort on the eastern plain called Beitou Fort — the seat of a local Battalion Commander — things changed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He assembled the military households, opened the cases on the spot, and revealed layer upon layer of glittering, round, silvery objects inside. Everyone present drew a sharp breath.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lately, bandit cavalry had been constantly scouting the periphery, and rumor had it that hundreds of thousands of roving bandits were closing in. The military households were all terrified, not knowing whether they should hold fast or surrender to the bandits. At noon, the Squad Commander had returned and said that Viceroy Sun was ordering the military households to relocate, with compensation for every household. Everyone had been half-believing and half-doubting — could such a good thing really happen?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Most of them were unwilling to leave their homes. If the people left, what would happen if the roving bandits ravaged their houses and the wheat in the surrounding fields? Even a poor, broken home was still their own treasure. And if their homes were destroyed in a single day, how would they live afterward?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet when orders came down from above, how could humble, insignificant folk dare resist? Were they not afraid of being arrested and executed? Just as they were hesitating, wondering whether to hide in some gully to avoid the trouble, the scene before their eyes proved that the rumored matter was actually true.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some well-traveled individuals even exclaimed, “Those are the silver coins from Xuanfu Garrison.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The silver before them was very strange — flat, yet round and plump. Every piece looked nearly identical in shape, fineness, and weight. Those with wider experience knew that these were the silver coins of Xuanfu Garrison, currently circulating only in provincial capitals and some large cities, and were one hundred percent hard currency.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Never mind silver coins — even someone who had seen copper coins could return and boast to their fellow villagers for half a day.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Those who relocated — every household would get ten of these silver coins? Move! Why wouldn’t they move?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sometimes good news could travel a thousand li. Under the powerful offensive of the silver coins, the people of the eastern plain showed not the slightest resistance. One by one, they cheerfully accepted the silver coins, supporting the old and carrying the young, driving their pigs and sheep, bringing their household goods, and crossing over from Yuanwang Gully in an endless stream.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The relocation procession stretched vast and mighty. Many military households who had fled to who-knows-where even came running back. Hidden households that had vanished for a long time also appeared one after another. After receiving their silver coins, every one of them was moved to tears, all saying, “Viceroy Sun is truly benevolent and righteous.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Having received their compensatory silver coins, they also instinctively learned how to feel the texture, to stroke the decorative patterns on them, and the method of blowing on them and listening to the humming sound they made to distinguish real from fake quickly spread among the military households.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Viceroy’s Personal Battalion was everywhere, protecting the safety of the common people while also overseeing the process, ensuring that every household received ten silver coins, not one coin less, which made the military households even more grateful.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“May Lord Sun be ennobled as Marquis for ten thousand generations.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The relocation on the eastern plain proceeded in an orderly fashion. The flow of people followed the small paths over the gully and surged toward the southern plain, where they saw Lord Sun’s banner on the plain and Lord Sun himself beneath it. He was clad in full armor, surrounded by a cluster of generals like stars circling the moon, his image so lofty and grand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The masses of military households and civilians all sincerely cheered toward the great banner. Many people also knelt in waves, thanking the guardian deity in their hearts, the generous and righteous Lord Sun. Watching their sincere expressions, Sun Chuanting suddenly felt that ten taels of silver per household was not really that much after all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He then stood in a daze, thinking: “We who have thoroughly studied the sages’ books do so for the peace and happiness of the people… Wealth is but an external thing.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>……\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The newly appointed Shaanxi Regional Commander, Gao Jie, arrived at Tongguan around the afternoon of the seventeenth. By then, the new army had already fully arrived, and Tongguan city had plunged into feverish defensive preparations.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>According to the staff officers’ plans, their troops were to set up camp along the Wei River and at various points on the western plain, then enter the pass city, the southern plain, the forbidden gullies, and other places unit by unit, depending on the arrangements made for them by the command camp.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Among the various garrisons of Shaanxi, Gao Jie, Zheng Jiadong, and Niu Chenghu were to follow the new army in defending Tongguan. Their main-force battalions ranged from three thousand to five thousand men each. Additionally, officers of Mobile Corps Commander rank and above within the garrisons were required to contribute troops — each with over a thousand soldiers, over two thousand soldiers, or even as few as several hundred soldiers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The three garrisons were to contribute around fifteen thousand camp soldiers, though the actual number could not possibly be that high.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, it was perfectly normal for each camp to pocket empty pay slots and exploit the soldiers’ blood. Even men like Yang Guozhu could not avoid it back then, and the interior regions were even more corrupt. Their actual total strength was around ten thousand, or perhaps eleven thousand men, with varying proportions of cavalry and infantry.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because Sun Chuanting had assistance from Wang Dou, he could be considered to have a deep purse and ample resources. He paid out half a year’s back pay in one go, and now there were monthly wages as well, so the soldiers’ morale was very high.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although many people within Shaanxi were now seething with resentment toward Sun Chuanting, the army largely supported him. Nor did they care where Sun Chuanting’s silver came from — as long as there was money, it was good.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, the accumulated abuses of the old army could not be sorted out in a moment. Gao Jie could be said to have arrived on schedule, but only a little over a thousand cavalry came with him. Several thousand infantry were still far behind and might need several more days to arrive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for the Mobile Corps and relief troops from the other routes, and the soldiers and horses of the Guyuan and Lintao garrisons, their arrival would take even longer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Regarding the disposition of the camp soldiers, the command headquarters’ intention was to have them fight in the field as roving troops, with only a portion accompanying the new army in defensive duties.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As troops from all sides kept arriving, the inside and outside of Tongguan city were packed with cavalry and infantry forces. Tents stretched endlessly, and an aura of armored warhorses spread everywhere. As reports from scouting riders kept coming in, the roving bandits drew ever closer, and Sun Chuanting pressed forward with the repair of the two-gully defense line.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Jingbian Army staff officers believed that having the new army participate in building the defenses would allow them to accumulate practical experience.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moreover, the military households and civilians on the southern plain, the western plain, and inside and outside Tongguan city could not be left idle. They should be made to understand that this war was not unrelated to them. However, attention must be paid to the methods — they should be enticed with profit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sun Chuanting also threw caution to the wind. Following the advice of Wu Zhengchun and others, he hired large numbers of military households and civilians to work, organizing them into logistics teams, paying them wages, and providing food and clothing. This made the soldiers and civilians extremely enthusiastic.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the twentieth, Sun Chuanting inspected the city defenses, from inside the city to outside, from the southern plain to the western plain. Wherever he went, there was a chorus of cheers. Countless people cheered toward his great banner: “Viceroy! Viceroy! Viceroy!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sun Chuanting suddenly felt a surge of emotion that brought tears to his eyes. Beside him, Wen Shiyan said joyfully, “When the army and the people are of one heart, their strength can sever metal. Tongguan is now a wall of bronze and a rampart of iron!” (To be continued…)\u003C\u002Fp>",4394,"2026-06-03T14:06:10.567Z",1,"Novelzhen Translator","c8486be4bfbb4703e18fafc3ec1fcd4250ab987ef6d61838eeecdaef56c6ed89","a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-791","a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-789",896,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fa-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-cover.jpg"]