Chapter 97

Volume Three: Shunxiang Fort Garrison Commander, Chapter Ninety-Seven: Capturing Prisoners

Everyone looked toward Wang Dou. Since the start of this year, Wang Dou had been worried that the Later Jin army would invade again, so he had the entire Shunxiang Fort prepare and forcefully pushed through the construction of the city walls. At the time, many people dismissed it, but no one expected Wang Dou's foresight to actually come true.

With enemy troops pressing on the border and the people panicking, Wang Dou was the pillar of morale for all of Shunxiang Fort. Facing everyone's gazes, Wang Dou said in a deep voice: "Cancel the celebrations, impose martial law over the entire fort. From today on, all of Shun Fort will close its gates and clear the roads. Anyone who dares to pass through without authorization will be killed, anyone who dares to shake the army's morale will be killed, anyone who dares to disobey orders will be killed, anyone who dares to delay a military opportunity will be killed!"

He looked around at everyone, his tone stern: "The bandit slaves' great army presses on the border. Everyone in the fort must unite their hearts and join forces to strike the enemy invaders together!"

He issued a string of commands, and everyone obeyed with awe.

Quickly, one mounted scout after another galloped out from the fort, summoning the military officers within the jurisdiction for an emergency council.

On the afternoon of the twenty-seventh, the officers and fort chiefs from Proprietor Village, Huiyao Fort, Jingbian Fort, Zhouzhuang Fort, Huzhuang Fort, Chafang Fort, Yizhuang Fort, Ganzhuang Fort, Yagou Fort, Shiweng Fort, Chadao Fort, and other military forts and garrison forts of various sizes within Shunxiang Fort's territory all came to Shunxiang Fort to attend Wang Dou's council and receive orders.

Inside the Battalion Commander's official hall, Wang Dou looked at the hall packed with officers and fort chiefs. He raised a dispatch in his hand and said in a deep voice: "Just now, I received enemy intelligence relayed by the beacon transmission officer from the department city. Fifty thousand bandit slave troops, led by the bandit chieftain Ajige, have already broken through at Dushi Fort, passed through Diao'e Fort, and entered straight into Chang'an Ridge. It is estimated that within a few days they will reach the territory of Baoan."

Everyone drew a cold breath, their faces all turning ashen. Fifty thousand troops...

Wang Dou's voice was heavy: "This time the bandit slaves have invaded in massive force. Our Great Ming will again see its people trampled and its common folk suffer calamity."

"However!"

Wang Dou looked around and said in a deep voice: "We are officers of the Great Ming. We must put the affairs of the state first. In this time of national crisis, only by being resolute and fearless, by holding firm to the resolve to sacrifice ourselves, by fulfilling our duties with utmost loyalty, and by holding the strategic passes against the bandits, can there be a sliver of hope for survival."

He looked at everyone and said: "All the garrison forts within the territory are collapsed and ruined, unable to defend against the bandit slaves. To prevent the population and supplies of each fort from being used by the slaves, I have decided to strengthen the walls and clear the fields. Except for Jingbian Fort, Proprietor Village, and Huiyao Fort, the military households of all other garrison forts will be completely relocated. We will not let the bandit slaves obtain a single blade of grass or piece of wood."

Everyone drew another breath. The Garrison Commander's plan was truly on a grand scale.

Within the territory of Shunxiang Fort, besides the few large forts of Proprietor Village, Jingbian Fort, and Huiyao Fort, there were also ten garrison forts, each with thirty to forty military households. These ten garrison forts held nearly two thousand people, along with a great deal of supplies, all of which had to be relocated. This was a massive undertaking.

However, hearing Wang Dou say this, the fort chiefs of the various garrison forts also breathed a sigh of relief. Whenever the Tatars invaded, their garrison forts were always the first to suffer. Now that all the military households of each fort were being moved into the large forts, their lives and safety would also be secured.

Wang Dou acted with fierce speed, issuing orders one after another. No one had any room to object; anyone who dared disobey would be beheaded on the spot. But Wang Dou commanded with perfect composure, without the slightest panic, and everyone's hearts settled down.

The matter was thus decided. Shunxiang Fort was a large fort and would take in two Company Commander. Huiyao Fort, far in the rear mountain region, would also take in one Company Commander. The remaining households would be distributed to Jingbian Fort.

After the brief council ended, the officers took their leave one by one and hurried back to urgently relocate the people and supplies.

Among the officers, Wang Dou's old brothers from his days at Jingbian Watchpost—Zhong Dayong, Zhong Diaoyang, Qi Tianliang, Gao Shiyin, and Yang Tong—were also present.

Wang Dou looked at his old brothers, his heart filled with emotion. This was the first time since he had become the Garrison Commander of Shunxiang Fort that everyone from Jingbian Watchpost had gathered together. It was only a pity that Brother Ma Ming was missing.

He said to Zhong Dayong: "Old Zhong, this time your Huiyao Fort is taking in many relocated military households and supplies. You must assist well the Company Commander, Lord Chang Zhengwei."

Zhong Dayong had grown even fairer and plumper in Huiyao Fort, his face glowing with health. Seeing Wang Dou give him such instructions, he felt quite honored. He bowed and nodded repeatedly, saying: "My lord, rest assured, your humble subordinate will certainly assist Lord Chang well."

Wang Dou nodded with a smile, walked before Zhong Diaoyang, gazed at him, and said: "Cousin, I leave Jingbian Fort to you."

Zhong Diaoyang clasped his fists and said in a deep voice: "My lord, rest assured."

Wang Dou patted the shoulder of Qi Tianliang beside him, then walked up to Gao Shiyin and said: "Brother Gao, I heard you had a son a few days ago? It seems that after the bandit slave army retreats, I will have to go drink your son's one-month celebration wine."

Gao Shiyin grinned so wide he couldn't close his mouth, even the fierce flesh on his face quivering constantly. He said: "My lord, it's settled then. Don't forget when the time comes."

Yang Tong beside him laughed: "Old Gao, how could the lord forget something he has agreed to?"

Wang Dou laughed and scolded: "Don't worry, I will definitely come when the time comes."

Gao Shiyin, Yang Tong, and the others bid farewell to Wang Dou one by one. Wang Dou watched their departing figures with a smile, but his heart was heavy. This time the Qing army had invaded in massive force. After this parting, he did not know if he would ever see these old brothers of his again.

From the twenty-seventh to the thirtieth at the end of the month, the entire territory of Shunxiang Fort was engaged in strengthening the walls and clearing the fields, carrying out a massive relocation of people and supplies.

The military households of the many garrison forts shouldered their belongings, drove their pigs and sheep, and reluctantly left their homes, entering respectively the three large forts of Shunxiang Fort, Jingbian Fort, and Huiyao Fort. Wang Dou had long made meticulous deployments for the arrival of this day, so the relocation proceeded in an orderly manner without any panic.

After the military households of each garrison fort relocated, their homes would certainly be burned down by the Qing troops. But as long as the people were safe, their homes, even if destroyed, could be rebuilt.

On the twenty-eighth day of the sixth month, all the pigs and sheep from the livestock farm at Jingbian Fort were also driven into Shunxiang Fort or Jingbian Fort, to add strength for the soldiers in killing the enemy.

On the fourth day of the seventh month in the ninth year of Chongzhen, at last, the Qing Prince of the Blood of the Wuying Rank, Ajige, together with Beile Abatai and Yangguli, commanding over fifty thousand Qing and Mongol troops, after capturing Dushikou, Diao'e Fort, Chang'an Ridge, and other forts, came surging forward in vast numbers. Passing through the territories of Baoan Guard and Huailai Guard, they halted at Yanqing Department in front of Juyong Pass.

While sending troops out in all directions to plunder, they waited for news of the other Qing army that had entered the pass through Xifengkou.

For a time, beacon fires blazed everywhere across Baoan Guard, Huailai Guard, Yanqing Department, Yongning Guard, and other places on the Eastern Route of Xuanfu Garrison, turning the land into a living hell.

With the Qing troops invading, in the early seventh month, the capital was placed under martial law. The Chongzhen Emperor urgently ordered the inner minister Li Guofu to defend Zijing Pass, Xu Jinzhong to defend Daoma Pass, Zhang Yuanheng to defend Longquan Pass, and Cui Liangyong to defend Gu Pass. A few days later, he also ordered the Duke of State Zhu Chunchen to inspect the frontier passes.

At the same time, the Great Ming Ministry of War sent dispatches ordering the Regional Commanders of all regions to lead their troops at top speed to come to the capital's aid.

On the third day of the seventh month, the Ministry of War sent an urgent directive to the Provincial Governor of Datong: "By imperial decree, now that the bandit slaves are rampaging wildly, the Yun Garrison already has orders to select elite troops to come to the aid. You are also commanded to urge and encourage the circuit generals to maintain the strictest defense."

On the fourth day of the seventh month, the Ministry of War's directive became even more severe and urgent: "The Minister of War, Zhang, reports and forwards this directive to the Provincial Governor of Datong. The slave bandits have entered from Xuan toward Chang, their momentum growing daily more pressing. Flying dispatches order the troops and generals of Yunzhong to rush to the capital's aid at star-speed. The deadline is eight days from the day this dispatch is received by your garrison to arrive at the capital. If the deadline is violated and they fail to arrive, both the governor and the garrison commander shall be petitioned for imperial punishment!"

Starting from the fifth day of the seventh month, Shandong Regional Commander Liu Zeqing, Shanxi Regional Commander Meng Ruhu, Datong Regional Commander Wang Pu, Baoding Regional Commander Dong Yongwen, and Shanyong Regional Commander Zu Dashou, along with the various Regional Commanders of the Shanhai Pass, Ningyuan, Jizhou, and Miyun garrisons—Zu Dale, Li Zhongzhen, and Ma Rulong—all led their troops to come to the capital's aid.

On the sixth day of the seventh month, the Director of the Directorate of Ceremonial and concurrently Manager of the Imperial Stables, Cao Huachun, reported: "Having received the sacred decree, as the slave rebels penetrate deeply, the managing officers of the two Brave Guard battalions, Sun Jiwu and other generals, have been ordered to select elite and able soldiers from the troops originally assigned to camp outside the city, and to appoint Assistant Regional Commander Sun Yingyuan and others to command them, to immediately rush at star-speed to the capital's aid, and to be sure to annihilate the rebel slaves..."

On the seventh day of the seventh month in the ninth year of Chongzhen, by the banks of the Yanghe River.

Shimen Bay. This was a turning point of the Yanghe River, where the current was relatively gentle. Not far upstream was the confluence of the Sanggan River and the Yanghe River. On a hillside several hundred meters from the river stood a dilapidated Mountain God Temple. The statues of the gods inside were mottled and crumbling, their original colors long indistinguishable.

Inside this temple and on the surrounding high ground, a small squad of night scouts from Shunxiang Fort was cautiously lying in ambush at this moment. From here looking down, every movement on both banks of the Yanghe River fell clearly into their eyes.

"It seems the situation is not good. Another Niru of Tatars has crossed the river. In a few more days, even our Shunxiang Fort will be harassed by slave cavalry."

The speaker was a big man with a full beard. He had a burly frame, wore leather armor, and had a red waist tag hanging at his belt, marking him as a soldier of the upper-lower skill grade in the Shunxiang army. He held a spear-club in his hand and had two javelins stuck behind his back.

This night scout was called Wen Daxing. He was originally a retainer in the company of Shunxiang Fort Company Commander Wen Fangliang and also came from a night scout background. Because of his excellent skills, he had been selected for the newly formed cavalry unit under Han Chao. It was said that in the seventh year of Chongzhen, Wen Daxing had also taken the head of a Later Jin armored horseman and even scalped it—a truly cold-blooded man.

He glanced at the person beside him and said in a low voice: "Chief Xie, these past two days we've scouted about enough. It's time to return to the fort. The Tatar scouts are increasing by the day. If we run into a large group of Tatar soldiers, our small squad won't even be enough to fill the gaps between their teeth."

He kept his body low and deliberately suppressed his voice, as if afraid of startling the Qing troops across the river. Behind a large rock in front of the temple, Xie Yike was incessantly peeking and craning his neck toward the foot of the mountain. His eyes flashed with excitement as he said: "Wait a little longer, let's get a clear count of how many Tatars have crossed the river."

He said in a low voice to the person beside him: "Scholar, have you noted everything down clearly?"

The person beside him said in a deep voice: "Chief Xie, rest assured. The banners, numbers, equipment, and arms of the bandit slaves scouted over these past few days—your subordinate has recorded every detail clearly."

The speaker was a night scout named Huang Guoxiang, twenty-five or twenty-six years old. He was tall and lean, with handsome features and a steady, composed manner. In the eighth year of Chongzhen, Huang Guoxiang had pledged allegiance to Wang Dou, who was then the fort chief of Jingbian Fort. In the ninth year of Chongzhen, when Wang Dou formed the cavalry unit, Huang Guoxiang was selected. He was skilled with a hand cannon and also adept with a saber, but he rarely spoke in the unit. Usually, he just quietly gazed at the sky, no one knew what he was thinking about.

Everyone in the squad had heard that in the seventh year of Chongzhen, Huang Guoxiang's entire family had been killed by the Later Jin army, so he harbored an intense hatred for the Later Jin. His past experiences had also made him taciturn and reserved.

Wang Dou had once stipulated that when the night scouts of Shunxiang Fort went out on reconnaissance, they must use the later-era cipher book he prescribed, employing a dictionary conversion method. This way, even if the intelligence was captured by the enemy, they could not possibly learn its contents, greatly ensuring the security of the information.

This intelligence system placed a fairly high demand on the literacy of the scouts, requiring them to know many characters. Because Huang Guoxiang knew the most characters and also had a fair complexion, in Xie Yike's First Squad, it was always Huang Guoxiang, nicknamed "White-Faced Scholar," who kept the records.

After a good while longer, Xie Yike finally said: "Alright, let's move."

For a moment, the night scouts around the Mountain God Temple all quietly gathered together. Including Xie Yike, they made up exactly one squad of eleven men.

Every one of them was tall, sturdy, and fierce-looking, all wearing light armor. The weapons on their bodies and in their hands were a motley assortment — throwing axes, javelins, hand cannons, sabers, hand crossbows, trident-spears, and staff-spears. But at this moment, every man’s expression was tense and alert. The horses they led all had bits in their mouths, and their hooves were wrapped in cloth.

They could not afford to be careless. Going out as night scouts to reconnoiter was a matter of narrow escapes from death in the first place. Right under the enemy’s nose, the risk of exposure was extremely high. If this squad of eleven ran into an equal number of Qing sentry riders, they would likely suffer heavy casualties.

As the Qing troops pushed deeper, ever since the first day of the seventh month, Wang Dou had ordered Han Chao to dispatch several squads of night scouts to various places to probe for news of the Qing forces. On the fourth day of the seventh month, after Ajige’s main force entered the borders of Yanqing Department, Wang Dou ordered the Shunxiang Fort night scouts to go out even more frequently, and they had suffered some losses.

Because the Shunxiang Fort night scouts had detected small bands of Qing troops continuously crossing from the Yang River into the territory of Baoan Department, on the fifth day, Xie Yike, under Han Chao’s orders, went out again to reconnoiter. Ideally, he was to capture a few live prisoners and find out more about the Qing forces’ situation.

On the night before they set out, Wang Dou personally toasted Xie Yike and his men to see them off. With the Qing troops constantly crossing deeper into the territory, once this squad went out, contact with the Qing forces was unavoidable, and their prospects were grim. No one knew whether Xie Yike and his men, once gone, would ever have the chance to return.

With a great enemy bearing down, even though Xie Yike was his own brother-in-law, Wang Dou still had to send him into battle. Only, that day, Wang Dou generously let Xie Yike drink his fill of fine wine. That night, including Xie Yike, the entire squad of night scouts drank until their faces were flushed. With fervent passion, they beat their chests and assured Wang Dou that this mission would surely return safely, having scouted back intelligence on the Tartars.

As the squad leader of this night scout unit, Xie Yike led them out of Shunxiang Fort. His courage was extraordinarily great. After leaving the boundaries of Shunxiang Fort, they pressed straight past Wubao, all the way to the banks of the Yang River, drawing close to the territory of Huailai Guard.

The entire journey, the squad moved with extreme caution. To evade the prying eyes and attacks of Qing sentry riders, they followed the night scout knowledge taught by Han Chao, lodging in a different place each night — staying here tonight, somewhere else another night. Their advantage as locals gave them considerable familiarity with the geography and terrain around Shunxiang Fort, allowing them to easily find places where they could safely spend the night.

In these past few days, Xie Yike had become the core of the squad. Though he was young, only seventeen this year, his skills had long since earned him the respect of the fort’s night scouts, who revered the strong. He had become the squad leader by his own ability, not through Wang Dou’s patronage.

In particular, Xie Yike came from a hunter’s background and possessed an extremely keen sense of smell. He broke from convention, abandoning the night scouts’ usual methods of nighttime infiltration and reverse-direction doubling back along their route. Instead, he used covert daytime infiltration, cutting new paths through forests and mountains, heading straight for the target’s location. This yielded rich reconnaissance results, and several times he skillfully evaded several bands of Qing sentry riders, earning everyone’s unreserved admiration.

……

The squad descended the hillside with light steps and light hands. Every man was cautious and prudent. The four hooves of their mounts were wrapped in cloth strips to keep the sound of hoofbeats from alerting anyone.

A large body of Qing troops was crossing the river not far away. Their sentry riders were ceaseless, so they had to be watchful everywhere and careful with every step. If they ran into a large band of Qing sentry riders, they would be finished.

Fortunately, as they came down the mountain, those Qing troops never discovered Xie Yike and his men spying on them from there.

The squad rode along the mountain’s edge. It was already summer, and the weather was scorching. Wearing armor on these loess roads, the heat rose up, making everyone feel parched and sweltering. Although Xie Yike and his men each had two horses, compared to the men above, the horses beneath them were instead listless, and they had to switch mounts after a while.

They passed Shayin, Nuanquan, Jiahe, Jijiaying, and other places — this whole area was Wubao territory. Soon they would be approaching Wenquantun. Looking from afar, those village forts and civilian forts were all on alert. Sometimes they spotted a few small hamlets, their fort walls ruined, wisps of light smoke rising from within. From a distance, all they could see inside were broken houses and shattered walls — clearly, the residents of those forts had suffered the murderous hands of the Qing troops.

Seeing this situation, Xie Yike and his men all cursed, yet also felt fortunate that their own Shunxiang Fort had carried out a policy of strengthening the defenses and clearing the countryside. At least for these small forts with little ability to defend themselves, their inhabitants had taken refuge in the larger forts, and their safety had been somewhat guaranteed.

The whole way, there were no travelers. Only occasionally did they see some Qing sentry riders galloping past with whoops and hollers, swaggering openly without the slightest concern whether their movements were exposed. Every group they saw numbered at least a dozen or so men. Xie Yike, considering he had no certainty of victory, did not attack. Otherwise, capturing a few live prisoners would have made this mission even more perfect.

Rounding a slope, Xie Yike suddenly barked in a low voice: “Halt.”

Everyone stopped and spurred their horses to gather around Xie Yike. Wen Daxing said in a low voice, “Chief Xie, what’s wrong?”

Xie Yike focused his mind and listened carefully for a long moment, then said quietly, “There are Tartars below the slope.”

Everyone was startled. They hurriedly dismounted and, together with Xie Yike, crept stealthily to peer down the slope.

They saw, on a patch of flat ground a little over a hundred paces below the slope, several Qing soldiers resting and talking. They were sitting in a circle in a shady spot, speaking loudly in the Manchu language about something, and from time to time a burst of raucous laughter drifted up. Xie Yike counted them — there were six Qing soldiers below, with ten horses, and the horses were laden with bundles large and small.

Perhaps because they were resting, none of these Qing soldiers wore their helmets, revealing each man’s shiny scalp and the slender queue at the back of their heads — the so-called coin-pig-tail braid.

Xie Yike had often heard Han Chao’s explanations of the Later Jin banners, helmets, and armor. He looked carefully and saw, from the helmet plumes the Qing soldiers held in their hands and the armor they wore, that these six Qing soldiers were definitely mounted armored troops in the army.

Five of them wore cotton armor studded with copper nails. Judging by their rank in the army, the cotton armor they wore was certainly the concealed type with iron plates inside. But one man wore bright armor with the iron plates exposed. Looking at the black plume on the helmet in his hand and the back-banner on his back, he was definitely what the Tartars among the mounted armored troops called a zhuanda — a squad leader or file leader, a Squad Commander.

After everyone had scouted the situation clearly, they all gathered back to discuss. When they heard Xie Yike say that all six Tartar soldiers were mounted armored troops, everyone drew a cold breath.

They had all heard Han Chao say many times before that Tartar soldiers began military assessments from the age of ten, held once every three years. They started as garrison soldiers, then foot armored troops, then mounted armored troops, and above mounted armored troops were the white-armored soldiers. Whether a Tartar soldier was a foot armored trooper or a mounted armored trooper did not depend on whether he was cavalry, but on his martial rank within the army.

Every mounted armored trooper among the Tartar soldiers had at least seven or eight years of military service and could be considered a veteran with very rich combat experience.

Everyone’s faces flushed red. They just looked at Xie Yike and said, “Chief Xie, what do we do?”

Huang Guoxiang’s eyes blazed with fervor, but his voice was steady: “Chief Xie, the chance is rare. Let’s do it!”

These past few days, what this Shunxiang Fort night scout squad had seen were all Qing scout parties of at least a dozen or more men, with no certainty of victory. But now there were only six Qing soldiers before them, while their own side had eleven — the odds of success were considerable. If they killed these few Qing soldiers or captured a few live prisoners, the merit would be immense.

Xie Yike’s young face also flushed red. He panted rapidly, then gritted his teeth: “Damn it, let’s do it!”

At his low shout, the squad members all made ready. Some took out their hand cannons, used a slow match to light the matchcord, removed the wooden plug from the muzzle, and used a ramrod to tamp the powder and shot inside. Others took out short crossbows and loaded bolts into them.

Still others took throwing axes and javelins in hand. Wen Daxing drew a sharp javelin from behind his back, a fierce light gleaming in his eyes. Huang Guoxiang also lit the matchcord of the hand cannon in his hand, gnashing his teeth — his image as a pale-faced scholar was now completely gone!

Xie Yike gave the order: “Brother Wen, take two men and flank from the left. Brother Huang, take two men and flank from the right. The rest of you, all follow me!”

He boosted their morale, saying: “Kill these few Tartars, and it’s a great deed of merit for everyone. Even if we die in battle, the lord will take good care of our families back in the fort. Brothers, fight to the death!”