Chapter 246: Elite — Within Limits

The sneak attack having failed, the situation turned awkward — because Liao Sheng had no choice but to cross the river.

Either he could take the west bank of the Xiang River and cross it further downstream, or take the east bank and cross the Lu River opposite Lukou Town.

Lukou Town had a bridge, first built in the Song dynasty, over 150 meters long, with wooden piers and wooden beams, requiring repairs every few years. If he bypassed this bridge, the only other crossing along the entire Lu River was the Lujiang Bridge near Liling, likewise a Song-dynasty bridge of wooden piers and beams.

Liao Sheng had no dedicated naval force; his boats were used solely for transporting supplies.

Zhao Han's naval force could not come from Jiangxi either, its boats likewise usable only for supply transport — though, of course, they could make a long detour around the Yangtze and then follow the Xiang all the way here.

Crossing the Xiang River was too difficult, so Liao Sheng had no choice but to cross via the Lu River bridge.

Landing on the south bank of the Lu, Liao Sheng let out a breath of relief: the rebels, after all, had not set fire to the bridge.

He encamped across the river and made no move that day.

Liao Sheng ordered his clansman Liao Kun to take 1,500 picked men, all strong swimmers, to cross directly upstream under cover of night. When the time came, the main force would force the bridge crossing while the surprise force attacked simultaneously from the east — a pincer strike to win in one battle.

Fei Yinggong showed no reaction at all, as if unaware he needed to guard against a covert crossing.

When word came that his clansman had successfully crossed, Liao Sheng sneered in his tent: "The rebel commander guarding the supply route is so muddled and incompetent — this battle is certain to be a great victory!"

Fei Yinggong's inaction had two reasons:

First, although he now commanded a thousand regular troops, Huang Yao had taken five hundred of them for siege duty. He had only five hundred regulars and five hundred peasant soldiers left — too weak a force if divided.

Second, if he did not let the enemy cross the river, how could he annihilate them completely?

wωω. ttκan. ￠ 〇

At noon the next day, the 1,500 militia braves who had successfully crossed, after resting and recovering, came charging in under Liao Kun's command.

At the same time, Liao Sheng launched an early forced crossing of the bridge to pin down the rebel troops and coordinate with his clansman's arrival on the battlefield.

Shield-bearers and spearmen in front, three hundred archers behind — only a few hundred men could be committed at a time; any more and the bridge deck could not hold them.

They did not rush to attack, instead shooting from the bridge toward the opposite bank, waiting for the covert-crossing friendly force to arrive before striking from both sides.

"Father, the enemy from the east is coming — over a thousand men crossed covertly," Fei Ruhui said.

Fei Yinggong turned his head to look. "No hurry. Wait a little longer."

The five hundred regulars guarding the bridge were holding up rattan shields against the arrows. When the 1,500 militia braves on the flank drew near, Fei Yinggong suddenly cried out in alarm: "Retreat, quick!"

Taking advantage of a gap in the archers' volleys, the regulars guarding the bridge turned and fled, as if terrified of the pincer attack and simply scared into collapse.

An utterly clumsy performance!

Yet the militia braves attacking across the bridge believed it, and the militia braves who had crossed covertly and were closing in believed it too.

Ever since their formation, they had long been fighting bandit raiders. Those bandits, too, would fight like this — the moment they were ambushed or pinched, they would collapse and rout.

On the far bank, Liao Sheng shouted urgently: "Sound the withdrawal! Sound the withdrawal! Cross the river and regroup — don't chase recklessly!"

Clang-clang-clang-clang!

The brass gongs were struck frantically, but it was already too late.

The militia braves who had crossed the bridge, and those who had crossed covertly, seeing the Great Unity Army apparently fleeing in rout, immediately grew hot-headed and gave chase in a swarming mass.

Clearly, these elite militia braves were utterly incapable of obeying orders promptly.

After Liao Sheng crossed the river, his force had already split into two groups. One was chasing the Great Unity Army; the other, very obediently, was assembling on the riverbank. With no other choice, he led his troops in pursuit while blowing horns to make the forward units halt.

This was a small market town — with so many men, there was simply no way to form ranks; they could only advance along the flagstone streets.

The two streets formed a ⊥ shape.

One extended laterally along the river; the other extended vertically along the shopfronts.

The militia braves who had crossed the bridge first plunged into the longitudinal street in pursuit. The 1,500 militia braves who had crossed covertly pursued along the lanes outside the town. Both stretched out into a long, single-file snake formation — or, to be precise, into two long snakes.

They had gone completely mad with the chase, just like in the old days hunting down bandits.

"Tweeeet!"

The sharp, piercing sound of brass whistles rang out. The five hundred regulars who had fled beyond the town streets suddenly halted, assembled, and formed ranks.

This kind of maneuver — in the entire Great Ming, only a handful of units could pull it off. Most government troops, local braves, and bandits, even with prior arrangements, would rout as they fled; a feigned retreat would simply turn into a real rout.

The militia braves could not do it, so they believed the Great Unity Army could not do it either. They were convinced the Great Unity Army was truly fleeing in rout.

"Great Unity under Heaven!"

"Till the fields and eat!"

The five hundred regulars, having swiftly finished forming ranks, suddenly roared in unison, terrifying the militia braves at the very front of the pursuit.

"Kill!"

On the narrow flagstone town street, barely a dozen men could stand abreast. No matter how many militia braves gave chase, they could not spread out, and in an instant they were slaughtered by the Great Unity Army arrayed at the street mouth.

"Run! It's an ambush!"

The militia braves at the front turned and fled in panic, but those behind were still surging forward. In moments, they were jammed into a crush at the street mouth.

The militia braves' command structure had by now completely collapsed; even the officers were squeezed helplessly in the mob.

Every shop in the town was tightly shuttered; a few had a second story. Shopkeepers, assistants, traveling merchants… all peered out from the second-floor windows, and what they saw was a most spectacular scene.

They saw five hundred Great Unity soldiers arrayed in a crescent formation at the street mouth, with countless militia braves crashing into that concave gap. A single militia brave would often be stabbed by several long spears at once, jammed front and back with no way to advance or retreat.

The militia braves still coming up from behind at first had no idea what was happening; they stood at the rear collectively entering a sleepwalking daze. Only after at least a full minute of this slaughter did those at the back begin to flee in rout — but in the middle zone, men were packed so tight that in their panic countless militia braves fell, and many were simply trampled to death by their own comrades.

A merchant from another province, staying at an inn, watched the entire battle through the window and could not help sighing: "On one side, crack troops; on the other, a rabble. This defeat was not unjust."

On the other side, the 1,500 covert-crossing militia braves, led by Liao Kun, came charging along the lanes outside the town to outflank.

They ran headlong into five hundred peasant soldiers!

With houses on one side of the lane and dry fields on the other, Liao Kun raised his banner and shouted to form ranks.

Facing the peasant soldiers drawn up in strict array, the militia braves no longer dared to chase wildly; they leaped into the dry fields one after another and began forming ranks.

But before they could finish forming up, the five hundred peasant soldiers also leaped into the dry fields and came charging at a jog in Mandarin Duck formation.

These militia braves were indeed an elite — they did not immediately collapse, far more formidable than the Zhou clan braves of Xiangtan.

But that was all they amounted to.

The 1,500 militia, who had not even finished forming ranks, faced 500 peasant soldiers charging in formation. They held for perhaps two minutes before being pierced straight through the center. The militiamen tried to fight back, but all they saw before them were wolf-brush spears, and then in a daze, long pikes were thrust at them.

Liao Kun raised his blade and hacked aside two wolf-brush spears, but was suddenly wounded by another. As he parried and retreated, yet another long pike stabbed at him; he was then struck in the shoulder by a pike, in the belly by a pike, and in the chest by a wolf-brush spear, collapsing dead on the spot.

Liao Sheng himself arrived leading troops, but both militia units had already completely routed. He could only withdraw to the bridgehead, form ranks, and try to receive them.

Yet more and more routed soldiers came fleeing back, with the Great Unity Army in pursuit behind them, and Liao Sheng's own main formation wavered instantly. As the routed soldiers drew nearer, part of the militia tasked with receiving them turned and fled in terror, which immediately triggered a general rout. Liao Sheng killed several men in succession but could not stem the tide.

The five thousand militia Liao Sheng had brought were, at that moment, the absolute finest troops in the entire southern Hunan region.

They had been fighting for over a year and were all blooded veterans. Other units, including the soldiers under Governor Wang Zhiliang, were peasants conscripted on the spot, utterly lacking in combat effectiveness and useful only for holding city walls.

The sole elite force in southern Hunan was thus routed in its entirety.

The cause of the rout was none other than Fei Yinggong's extremely clumsy feigned retreat, which had lured these elite troops, heedless of orders, into the ambush point.

At this very moment, of the five thousand elite troops, over three thousand still lived. A small number fled in disorder along both banks of the river; the great majority were crowding onto the wooden bridge, trying to cross the river by the only large bridge. On the opposite bank lay the main camp they had pitched.

Liao Sheng was powerless to halt the rout. He could only let himself be carried along amid the chaos, swiftly retreating under the protection of his trusted men.

Liao Sheng did manage to cross the bridge and flee, but more militiamen were jammed onto the bridge, and many routed soldiers were even shoved off into the river.

"Kill!"

Fei Ruhui, a woman, charged at the front with a long pike in hand, rapidly thrusting and stabbing at the routed soldiers. She preferred the sword, but for battlefield slaughter, the long pike was more comfortable.

After she skewered several men in a row, the routed soldiers on the bridge threw themselves into the river one after another; those remaining were pursued across the bridge.

"Slow down, slow down!" Fei Yinggong shouted anxiously, afraid his daughter might meet with mishap.

Fei Ruhui, however, had already fought her way to the opposite bank and pursued for several li before she finally stopped, panting, to rest.

Liao Sheng fled madly with his remnant troops, retracing their route along the Xiang River. Fleeing until dark, they at last saw no pursuers. He had his trusted men count heads, and only eighty-odd remained.

Liao Sheng wanted to weep but had no tears. These had been his five thousand crack troops!

Although Leiyang and Hengshan each had three thousand militia holding their cities, and Hengyang had another fifteen hundred militia holding its city, those seventy-five hundred militiamen were all of weaker fighting strength — a motley rabble recruited by other gentry.

Liao Sheng's mind went blank; he felt the situation was beyond saving.

His own elite force was utterly lost. What use was returning to Leiyang, Hengshan, or Hengyang? Even if he went back, he probably could not command the troops there, because they were other men's soldiers, and there were conflicts among the local gentry too.

Enough, enough. No more fighting.

Liao Sheng waited by the riverbank for two days. In dribs and drabs, another two hundred-odd militiamen straggled back. These were all his own men — only three hundred souls left. He simply found a ford, crossed the river, and fled all the way back to his home in Longhui, inevitably robbing landlords along the way to gather provisions.

When word came that Liao Sheng's main force had been completely annihilated, the morale of the three southern-line cities — Hengyang, Hengshan, and Leiyang — instantly wavered, and desertions occurred every day.

Zhang Tieniu seized the chance to besiege Leiyang; Liu Zhu seized the chance to besiege Hengshan.

Hengyang, lying between the two cities, was about to become an isolated city. The Prefect fled outright in terror. The County Magistrate, however, proved to have grit; stepping forward in the crisis, he opened the prefectural treasury and recruited soldiers on the spot.

Yet the Hengyang garrison shrank the more he recruited.

For every man the County Magistrate recruited, seven or eight would desert that very night.

Hengyang was a major commercial city, home to many wealthy merchants, and nearly every rich merchant kept a multitude of servants.

There was a powerful servant named Zhang Feng. After making his fortune, he had a scholar change his name to Zhang Wenyu.

He had never been to Jiangxi, but he obtained a copy of The Great Unity Collection from a Jiangxi traveling merchant, and from then on began inquiring about the circumstances of household slaves in Jiangxi.

In the latest edition of The Great Unity Collection, there was an essay titled "Emancipating the Slaves," which classified tenant farmers, long-term laborers, household servants, and military households all as slaves. It held that only by emancipating the slaves could Great Unity under Heaven truly be achieved, and that these slaves should also receive equal treatment.

Seeing that the Hengyang garrison had dwindled to a mere two or three hundred men through desertion, Zhang Wenyu immediately began making connections, and the household slaves of half of Hengyang city were stirred to action.

Judging from the slave uprisings of the late Ming, the intensity of household-slave revolts was far lower than that of peasant revolts.

In most cases, household slaves merely beat their masters, forced them to hand over the indenture contracts, or compelled them to improve their treatment; only a very few killed their masters. The reason is simple: all slave-uprising movements were led by powerful servants who had stepped forward, and these powerful servants had households and property of their own and did not wish for things to go too far.

Hengshan and Leiyang had yet to be taken, but Hengyang, lying between them, changed its banner instead.

Zhang Wenyu led countless household slaves, drove out the Hengyang garrison, and raised a homemade Great Unity Army banner.

(End of chapter)