Chapter 250: Chen Yuwang

Through Pang Yu's telescope, the force appearing from the Liuhe direction should be the Standard Battalion coming to assemble. Only fifty or sixty cavalry appeared, but about half of them were well-trained. They swiftly scattered the Mounted Bandits, their formation splitting and merging with discipline, constantly breaking into small groups to surround those isolated horse soldiers. Whenever the bandit cavalry regrouped, the Ming Army would concentrate and scatter them again, and soon six or seven Roving Bandits were cut down from their horses.

The resistance of the horse soldiers on the east side quickly collapsed, and they fled in rout toward the north. The Ming Army pursued from behind and then charged toward that northern band of horse soldiers. The official road at Dongge Post Station to the north was the Roving Bandits' retreat route, and the horse soldiers on the west side, seeing this, immediately retreated north as well.

This Ming Army force had only routed one direction, but it instantly resolved the passive situation of the Garrison Battalion being threatened from three sides.

"Chen Rulie, follow and pursue them for a bit. Don't chase too far, and beware of Roving Bandit ambushes."

Chen Rulie acknowledged the order and led the remaining several dozen cavalry charging onto the official road, as if once again at Fierce Tiger Bridge, aiming to cut off the Roving Bandits' retreat.

But Pang Yu naturally knew it wouldn't happen. The surrounding hills were all passable, and the Mounted Bandits could easily leave through them. They knew the nearby terrain better than the Garrison Battalion.

Chen Rulie had not pursued far when nearly a hundred more horse soldiers appeared from the direction of Dongge Post Station. They split into two groups, preparing to encircle that Ming Army force from Liuhe.

The Liuhe Ming Army immediately slowed and halted on a small hill. Some soldiers dismounted and took out step bows.

Pang Yu saw that half of the Ming troops wore scale armor or chain mail. Once dismounted, they became heavy infantry. Occupying high ground with bows in hand, those unarmored bandit horse soldiers could gain no advantage.

If the Garrison Battalion were not present, the Roving Thieves could slowly lay siege, but with the Garrison Battalion on the flank, they lacked the conditions for encirclement. The horse soldiers also promptly slowed, moving below the small hill, not daring to charge that Ming cavalry unit.

Chen Rulie stopped on the official road, positioned between the bandit horse soldiers and the Garrison Battalion. The Mounted Bandits did not pursue him; they could also see that they could not catch him before he retreated back to the infantry formation. It would be wasted effort. The three sides thus stood in stalemate.

The previously somewhat disordered mounted scouts from the east and west arrived at Dongge Post Station, where a Post Commander was reorganizing the ranks.

Pang Yu said to Guo Fengyou, "The First Division will advance steadily along the official road toward Dongge Post Station."

After the Central Army's square banner and the First Division's response banner signaled, the drummer beat the drums, and the First Division attacked forward along the official road. As the infantry closed in, the Roving Bandits' cavalry gradually fell back, and the encirclement of that Ming Army unit naturally lifted.

That Ming Army unit immediately mounted their horses again and followed behind the Roving Thieves at a measured pace, applying pressure. Once the Roving Thieves collapsed under pressure, the Ming Army would swiftly pursue and turn it into a victory.

Chen Rulie's reaction was somewhat slower. In Pang Yu's view, Chen Rulie should have quickened his pace somewhat; the speed on the official road was certainly faster than across open fields. Although realistically he could not block Dongge Post Station, the infantry behind him was his strong support. Simply demonstrating the intent to cut off the official road at Dongge Post Station would have added more pressure on the Roving Thieves, just like at Fierce Tiger Bridge, and might have caused those horse soldiers' morale to collapse.

But Chen Rulie's rhythm was a beat slow. The band of horse soldiers near the official road provided support, threatening the Liuhe Ming Army from the flank and forcing them to slow down.

Pang Yu watched with keen interest. It was his first time seeing a direct cavalry engagement. Although direct clashes between the two sides were few, the cavalry on both sides split and merged with discipline. The Liuhe Ming Army transitioned between offense and defense very quickly, and the commander deployed them skillfully. The Bandit Cavalry, meanwhile, fully exploited their numerical advantage to neutralize the Liuhe Ming Army's sudden assault.

The Roving Thieves' shortcomings were still very obvious. Their cavalry had extremely high mobility but weak offensive power. The Garrison Battalion had learned its lesson at Shucheng and regularly drilled for ambushes. As long as they did not panic, the bandit horse soldiers posed little real threat to marching infantry. That was why their main attacks targeted the logistics train in the middle, using it to pin down the Garrison Battalion's marching speed and wear down their stamina and morale.

Perhaps demoralized by the Liuhe Ming Army's assault, the two hundred-plus horse soldiers made no further attempts to provoke. After assembling at Dongge Post Station, they retreated swiftly along the official road.

The Ming Army from Liuhe pursued for a stretch, but their speed was not superior. Moreover, the Roving Bandits were not in disarray, and the Ming Army also feared an ambush. They returned to Dongge Post Station shortly after.

By this time, the Garrison Battalion's infantry had already reached the post station. Pang Yu dismounted within the market town and waited for the commander of the Liuhe Ming Army.

The Ming cavalry slowly rode in. The man at the front wore iron scale armor, likely stuffed with cotton armor underneath, making him look extraordinarily burly. Even the warhorse beneath him seemed to shrink into the likeness of a donkey. That Zhang Ruolai from Jiangpu was of a lean and small build; one could probably make two of him out of this Garrison Commander before them.

Pang Yu knew this was Zhang Guowei's Central Army Garrison Commander, the same rank as himself, but one who likely had more face time with Zhang Guowei. He stepped forward a few paces to greet him and cupped his hands in salute after the man dismounted.

"I am Anqing Garrison Commander Pang Yu."

The Central Army Garrison Commander was around forty years old. After looking Pang Yu up and down, he cupped his hands indifferently and said, "I am Chen Yuwang, Central Army Garrison Commander under the Military Governor's Standard."

Like many post stations of this era, due to its location on a major communication route, a market town had formed around Dongge Post Station. As the main official road heading north from Nanjing, this road was normally very bustling, and the market town was of considerable size. But now it had been reduced to ruins.

The area around the market town was desolate. All the nearby trees had been felled, reduced to blackened charcoal from the surrounding fires. The straw on the few remaining grass trees had been looted clean, leaving bare trunks. Outside the southeast corner of the market town lay several hundred corpses, among them dozens planted headfirst into the ground.

Since last year, Pang Yu had seen many dead people, and now no manner of death surprised him.

"Sir, the upper reaches of the river and all the wells have had dead bodies thrown into them, along with the entrails of some unknown livestock."

Pang Yu walked to a nearby well. Several soldiers were using a hooked spear to dredge it. Beside the well mouth lay some waterlogged, pale intestines and two dead rats. Water was flowing everywhere around it.

"Damn Roving Bandits. We should have chased them off sooner." Pang Yu touched his nose. He had had no intention of engaging the Roving Bandits again at the time and missed the chance to pursue them from Jiangpu, allowing the Roving Bandits to leave at their leisure. After pulling distance, they had destroyed the route to this extent.

The further inland they went, the more it became the Roving Bandits' familiar pattern. Their experience exceeded the Garrison Battalion's by more than one level.

The Roving Bandits fully exploited the advantages of retreat, looting everything edible along the way. The market towns and villages could no longer provide supplies for the Garrison Battalion; even if Pang Yu wanted to spend money, there was nowhere to buy. Next was the destruction of infrastructure—houses, bridges, water sources. As long as they had enough time, they could destroy things to the degree seen here at Dongge Post Station.

This was not the first time Pang Yu had seen this pattern of the Roving Bandits. Last year, after the Roving Bandits passed through Anqing, he had gone to threaten Chen Ten Prefectures at Susong, passing through Qianshan and Taihu. He had seen the misery along the way, but it had not been destroyed so thoroughly, probably because no government troops were pursuing the Roving Bandits at that time.

Before setting out from Anqing, Pang Yu's greatest worry had been insufficient provisions. After arriving at Puzikou, they instead had a great surplus. Aside from what was seized at Silver Ingot Bridge, the bottom hold of the grain transport ship still held a large amount of self-supplied grain, and the provisions purchased in Nanjing had not even been touched.

But after Zhang Guowei changed the operational objective, provisions became a problem. The biggest problem was transport. Without the advantage of downstream river shipping, they could only rely on human and animal transport.

Because the plan was made hastily, Pang Yu could only hire ninety-seven mule and horse carriages at Puzikou, with one hundred and three head of livestock workers. In addition, there were thirty-four carriages seized at Silver Ingot Bridge, totaling one hundred and thirty-one carriages, carrying four hundred and thirteen shi of rice and beans and two thousand three hundred bundles of dry hay.

As a result, his marching column stretched very long. Besides assigning seventy Marine Corps soldiers to accompany the carts, he had no choice but to split the Second Division, interspersing them by Banner Teams among the cart convoy to protect the fragile Logistics Team.

But Chen Yuwang's situation was even worse than his. Clearly, Chen Yuwang was also completely unprepared for a long-distance pursuit of the Roving Bandits. Besides the fifty Vanguard cavalry he brought, the force arriving behind consisted of thirty more cavalry and three hundred infantry, seventeen carriages, and forty civilian laborers. His logistics were certainly insufficient. The condition of his infantry was also not very good, looking about the same as Xu Strengthening's.

However, this Garrison Commander Chen was quite responsible, proactively setting up camp on the north side of the market town and taking on the defense of the main direction.

The sound of horse hooves came from behind. When Pang Yu turned to look, Chen Yuwang had already jumped off his horse, landing very steadily.

Pang Yu went over to greet him. "I noticed General Chen's camp had few carriages, so I just sent over five carts of provisions and fodder. Your subordinates have already accepted them."

Having accepted Pang Yu's gift, Chen Yuwang's attitude warmed somewhat. "Garrison Commander Pang is too kind. I received Military Governor Zhang's urgent order and set out immediately this time; it was indeed somewhat hasty."

After speaking, a gleam appeared in his eyes. "I just observed Garrison Commander Pang's troops. Their armor and equipment surpass even my Standard Battalion's. You even have two cannons. Among the northern and southern troops I have seen, your infantry is the most orderly. I wonder where Garrison Commander Pang found so much silver to support these troops."

Pang Yu felt somewhat pleased inwardly but spoke modestly. "General Chen flatters me. My battalion does indeed have somewhat more armor and equipment. It is because last year the Roving Bandits ravaged Anqing with terrible slaughter. In their righteous fury, the various local communities donated considerable rations and pay to my Garrison Battalion, which I could not refuse. Only thus was I barely able to piece together these armor and equipment, but they cannot compare to General Chen's well-trained iron cavalry."

"I am no general for a long time now." Chen Yuwang removed his helmet, revealing deep wrinkles on his forehead. "My courtesy name is Danzhong. You may address me so."

Pang Yu was not embarrassed. He knew the rules of this time: one had to be at least a Mobile Corps Commander to be addressed as General. For low-ranking officers like them, it was merely a show of respect. Chen Yuwang's remark was a bit of a wet blanket, but Pang Yu did not mind; such people were easier to deal with. However, from Chen Yuwang's tone, it seemed he had once held a rank higher than Garrison Commander and had been demoted for some reason.

"My battalion has very few cavalry. Just now I watched Brother Danzhong lead his cavalry in battle; they could be called the finest cavalry under heaven. Traveling with Brother Danzhong this time, I will have to rely heavily on your esteemed unit's cavalry. If there is leisure time, I would also like to seek Brother Chen's guidance on cavalry drill and deployment methods."

As if hearing something amusing, Chen Yuwang smiled faintly. "The Roving Thieves are but petty scoundrels, relying on superior numbers. Defeating them is not worth mentioning. If one day I can lead cavalry to sweep away those Tartars, only then would the words 'finest cavalry under heaven' be deserved."

"Tartars?" It took Pang Yu a moment to react. He occasionally heard people mention these two words in daily life but originally had no idea what they referred to. Later he learned it was in the Liaodong region, and Pang Yu guessed it must be what later became the Great Qing.

Because they were too far away, Pang Yu had not anticipated any conflict with them in the short term. His main objective was to defend Jiangbei, so he had done little research on this potential enemy and had very few sources of information. If this Chen Yuwang had fought them before, this would be a good opportunity to gather intelligence.

"Has Brother Danzhong been to Liaodong to fight?"

The gleam in Chen Yuwang's eyes flickered and vanished. He then looked at the ground and nodded. "Naturally, I have been there. For many years."

Pang Yu quickly asked, "Then could Brother Danzhong enlighten me? How do those Tartars compare to today's Roving Thieves?"

Chen Yuwang frowned in thought for a moment, then said, "If the Roving Thieves are compared to petty thieves, then the Tartars are giant bandits and fierce brigands. On the battlefield, Gao Bazi would not last a single exchange against the Tartars."