Chapter 436: Not Easy

Chongzhen 11th Year, 12th month, 10th day. Jiazhuang, Julu County, Shunde Prefecture, Northern Zhili.

The Xuan-Da Army camp was boiling with activity. Many grain sacks were piled before the camp gate, and soldiers of the Central Battalion were moving them.

A line of carriages was departing along the road. Lu Xiangsheng stood at the camp gate, watching them go into the distance.

Gu Xianyi beside him said in a low voice, "Lord Doutang, it is all thanks to your past service as Military Defense Circuit here that these gentry and people were willing to donate their own life-saving grain as military supplies."

"This official failed to stop the Tartars' rampage, and truly cannot face these Volunteers."

Gu Xianyi did not try to console him, only listened quietly. After a moment of silence, Lu Xiangsheng asked, "Is there any word from Wang Pu?"

"No word from Wang Pu. Commander-in-Chief Yang has already arrived, and Commander-in-Chief Hu will join the combined camp after noon."

The forces of Yang Guozhu and Hu Dawei had previously been scattered, rescuing various prefectures and counties. After Lu Xiangsheng reached Nangong and scouted the Qing army further south around Julu, he immediately summoned the two forces to assemble.

"Has the camp of Supervisor-in-Chief Gao been confirmed?"

"At Wei County. The mounted scouts delivered the letter, but Supervisor-in-Chief Gao said there is another large force at Wei County, his primary duty is to guard Linqing and prevent its loss, so it is inconvenient for him to come join the combined camp, and it is better to pin the enemy from both ends."

Lu Xiangsheng's face was expressionless, as if he had long known this outcome. Gao Qiqian's strategy for the rally to the king campaign was identical to Yang Sichang's: absolutely avoid a pitched battle with the Qing army, preserve troops for pinning actions, and ensure several major cities were not lost. The rest of the land could only fend for themselves.

As for Lu Xiangsheng, he too knew the gap in field battle capability against the Qing army. Three months earlier when the Tartars raided the Xuan-Da border, Lu Xiangsheng had also focused on defense and did not seek a pitched battle with the Qing army. But the political situation during the rally to the king campaign was different — at least, different for him. The documents constantly arriving from court confirmed this.

"Distribute all the grain. Tomorrow we go south."

"Lord Doutang, should we not keep some in reserve, to avoid running out of provisions again like before?"

"Keep none. Saving will only drag things out a few more days. In the future, there may be no more Volunteers sending grain, and it will be as before. While we have grain now, we can beat the drums and fight, and let the Tartars know this central land is not without men." Lu Xiangsheng said firmly, "Every man and every horse must eat their fill. The decisive battle will be within these few days."

……

"Qin Jiuze, your ten cakes."

Qin Jiuze took the cakes and reached into his bosom for silver.

Gu Xianyi shook his head. "No need to give me the silver. Keep it for yourself."

Qin Jiuze held the silver in his hand, waiting for Gu Xianyi to continue.

Gu Xianyi hesitated a moment, then said, "The Tartars are close by. There will surely be a great slaughter. Our Supervisor Battalion Central Battalion are Lord Doutang's Personal Soldiers. When Lord Doutang leads the charge, we must protect his safety."

Qin Jiuze still said nothing, only stood there impassively. Gu Xianyi let out a soft breath, turned, and went over to Centurion Xu, speaking to him in a low voice.

Qin Jiuze put the cakes away and returned to the Point Scout Team to sit. Everyone had received their grain. The Auxiliary Troops were feeding the horses nearby, while a group of Point Scouts gathered in a circle, murmuring in low discussion.

Seeing Qin Jiuze return, a Point Scout wearing a dog-fur hat leaned over, several small braids showing beneath the hat. He looked at Qin Jiuze and said, "Brother Qin, someone just said the Emperor wants to cut off the Doutang's head, forcing the Doutang to fight the Tartars to the death. Did Gu Xianyi give you ten cakes as blood money?"

Qin Jiuze snorted and ignored him. Another Point Scout beside them said, "What nonsense. The Emperor relies on the Doutang to fight, why would he cut off his head? I heard it's the Minister of War who wants to kill the Doutang."

"That Minister Yang wants to negotiate peace with the Tartars, and wanted to send them money and grain first. Lord Lu Doutang blocked it, so it wasn't sent. Minister Yang then sent secret orders to the prefectures and counties not to give us grain, to starve all of us Xuan-Da soldiers to death."

Yet another Point Scout said, "What I heard is also about that Minister Yang. They said before, Lord Lu Doutang was also a Minister, so Minister Yang couldn't kill him. This time they demoted Lord Lu Doutang to Vice Minister — ah, now they can kill him. Lord Lu Doutang got scared, so he hurried to find grain to eat his fill so he can go kill Tartars."

"That Minister still can't kill Lord Lu Doutang. He doesn't even have a Shangfang Sword."

"Lord Lu Doutang still carries the Shangfang Sword. Have you seen him kill anyone with it?"

"At Zhending, didn't he kill those two who murdered people and stole grain?"

"That wasn't killed by the Shangfang Sword either."

They talked as they ate, every mouth bulging, their words coming out muffled and unclear, but all were discussing the origin of this meal.

A middle-aged Point Scout waved his hand and lowered his voice. "Stop arguing, all of you. If you ask me, Yang Shisan, cities have fallen all along this road, so many dead. Lord Lu Doutang has no road left. Most likely he'll end up like Yuan Chonghuan, executed by slow slicing. Lord Lu Doutang is a man of dignity, he won't go to Caishikou. He'd rather die on the battlefield. He's just dragging us along. This meal is the executioner's feast."

The soldier with the small braids leaned his head over, several braids still showing beneath his dog-fur hat. He looked at the middle-aged Point Scout and said, "Yang Shisan, I want to follow the Doutang and kill Tartars."

The middle-aged Point Scout slapped him. "Man Da'er, you damn fool, you're a Tartar yourself."

The group burst into laughter. The middle-aged Point Scout continued, "The Datong garrison ran off. There's only five or six thousand of us. The Tartars have that many in just one banner, and they have eight banners."

Man Da'er rubbed his head. "Why think about all that? If we meet Tartars, just kill them."

……

On the 11th day of the 12th month, before dawn, horns sounded throughout the Xuan-Da Army camp. Cooking smoke rose everywhere in the camp; soldiers and officers were all eating. They would march out at daybreak. After receiving grain the previous day, the army's morale had somewhat stabilized. Having eaten a full meal, their fighting spirit had also recovered considerably.

The Point Scout Team had already reached the camp gate. Again, no military badges were checked. The officer saw Centurion Xu and waved them through. After leaving camp, the Point Scout Team advanced south. This time Centurion Xu showed no intention of half-heartedness, dividing the Point Scouts into three groups to scout the three roads to the south.

Qin Jiuze was in the same group as Centurion Xu, along with Yang Shisan and Man Da'er. In the faint light of dawn, they advanced due south. All had years of experience beyond the border and needed no arrangement from the Centurion; they knew how to maintain speed while conserving the horses' strength.

The previous day, the mounted scouts of the Central Battalion and Yang Guozhu had both made contact with the Tartars. Although they could not confirm the Tartar camp's location, they could basically determine that the main camp was south of the Julu County Seat. Scouting in this direction today, an encounter was very likely.

Though Centurion Xu was not half-hearted, he was full of worries. Aside from issuing orders, he said not a word on the road. Only Man Da'er was eager and itching for action.

The group rested once, then continued onward. The sky gradually brightened. The Xuan-Da Army should have marched out of camp by now.

After advancing a bit further, Centurion Xu and Qin Jiuze stopped at the same time. Then Yang Shisan and the others reined in their horses one after another. Man Da'er jumped off his horse and pressed his ear to the ground, while Centurion Xu stood on his horse's back to observe the south.

Man Da'er raised his head and shouted, "Large force to the south, over a thousand horses."

As soon as he spoke, he leaped onto his horse and looked at Centurion Xu with a face full of anticipation.

Centurion Xu narrowed his eyes, watching the dust cloud in the distance. After a moment, he said, "Yang Shisan, return at once and report to Assistant Regional Commander Li. The rest, follow me."

They spurred their horses and rushed forward. After a few li, a river appeared ahead. A wooden bridge spanned the river channel, and scattered cavalry were crossing the bridge.

Further south, beyond, was an endless marching column stretching out of sight.

Those scattered cavalry also spotted them and halted their advance. Centurion Xu observed for a moment, then drew his Waist Saber and led the charge toward the wooden bridge. Man Da'er let out a strange howl and followed, rushing out.

……

The early hours of the 12th day of the 12th month. The Xuan-Da Army camp at Jiazhuang.

The previous day, an encounter battle had occurred with the Tartars. The Xuan-Da Army discovered an enemy force on the march at Haoshui Bridge and immediately launched an attack. After the battle, it was determined to be a unit of the Qing army's Plain Red Banner, led by Banner Commander Du Lei.

The Qing army had not previously scouted the Xuan-Da Army and responded to battle in considerable haste. Fighting continued throughout the entire day. Due to the river barrier, no decisive outcome was achieved. Casualties on both sides were roughly equal. The Xuan-Da Army also captured two Qing soldiers.

Because the enemy was not far away, the Xuan-Da Army set a dark camp today. No lamplight was visible across the entire camp ground. Even the Central Army lanterns were wrapped in black cloth, to be unwrapped only if night battle occurred.

The door curtain of the Central Army great tent was sealed tight, but a faint lantern glow still came from within.

In the very center of the tent sat a wooden tub, filled with hot water, from which white steam still billowed.

Lu Xiangsheng had finished bathing. He solemnly dressed himself. On the table lay armor and a hemp robe. He first picked up the hemp robe, ready to put it on, but then stopped, looking at the armor with hesitation.

At that moment, a strange wild beast's howl suddenly sounded outside. There was a disturbance beyond the tent. Gu Xianyi was shouting orders at the sentries to suppress it.

Lu Xiangsheng closed his eyes for a moment, reached out and picked up his armor to begin donning it, then pulled the hemp mourning garment over it, and finally, with solemn gravity, bound the hemp headband around his head.

From the wilderness beyond the tent came another mournful sound of a conch horn.

The horn calls across the wilderness rose one after another, unbroken; a dusky yellow halo of light spread along the horizon.

The Xuan-Da Army soldiers in the camp had all risen. Heedless of the freezing pre-dawn cold, they stood at the entrances of their tents, peering outward.

The Point Scout Squad's tent was at the edge of the camp. Because they were point scouts, they were permitted to leave their tent at night, and everyone was already outside.

Qin Jiuze said impassively, "There's firelight to the southeast. Another force has come from that direction — at least ten thousand Tartars."

Yang Shisan's face was grim. "Those ghostly howls just now were all Tartar vanguard soldiers. Marching by night like this, they've located our camp. They won't let us withdraw."

Xu Centurion narrowed his eyes and watched for a moment. The Qing army's large-scale night march in such bitter cold was already beyond the capability of most Border Army units. Their scouts' abilities far exceeded those of others — they had easily found the Xuan-Da Army's camp, whereas the rally to the king forces had never before confirmed the exact location of a Qing army camp. The Qing army's objective was to begin battle before daybreak, to prevent the Xuan-Da Army from withdrawing after dawn. It was also clear they were desperate to annihilate this Border Army force.

Yang Shisan turned his head. "Centurion, I heard that last night Yuan Yingkui proposed relocating the camp, and Lu Doutang wanted to execute him for it. Now tens of thousands of Tartars are bearing down on us — why shouldn't we have relocated? Does he insist on sending us all to our deaths?"

The firelight flickered in the distance, exerting immense mental pressure on the group. Another point scout muttered, "Lu Doutang wants to fight the Tartars to the death, and Gu Xianyi is ordering all of us point scouts to Lu Doutang's side as guards. Isn't that just walking into death?"

Yang Shisan said resentfully, "Centurion, let me tell you — I'm not going to throw my life away. Lu Doutang wants to go to Caishikou, has no road left but to die, but I'm not going to Caishikou."

Xu Centurion swept his gaze over the group. "You're soldiers fighting a war — what's the point of all that talk? We're the Central Battalion's point scouts. Gu Xianyi came to say we should guard the Doutang, but Li Fuzhen gave no such order. We follow the Central Battalion."

The men of the Point Scout Squad were somewhat steadied by these words, but unrest had already broken out within the camp. Officers could be heard suppressing disturbances in every direction, trying to prevent a Camp Howl.

While the others were still debating, Xu Centurion drew Qin Jiuze aside and said to him in a low voice, "Old Qin, after daybreak, it most likely won't end well."

Qin Jiuze nodded silently. "There are no small number of Tartars coming."

Xu Centurion continued, "By rights, we should have relocated the camp early last night. The Tartars are here to plunder; they don't have time to chase us back and forth. Right now they've seized so much money, grain, women, and children — they wouldn't dare leave all that behind just to pursue us. If we had gone north or west, the Tartars wouldn't have dared to follow. Then we could have trailed them instead — that would have been the right course."

This time Qin Jiuze did not respond. Xu Centurion thought for a moment, then said, "Lu Doutang is a good official. It's just that we're soldiers who eat army rations. Dying in battle is one thing, but walking so knowingly to our deaths still feels like a raw deal. Rotten as our lives may be, a life is still a life. As for Gu Xianyi — I'll pay him no mind. When the Point Scout Squad mounts up to fight after daybreak, we'll have to act as circumstances dictate... But he did speak to you alone. I know you didn't join the Border Army just for rations, and you've already had your revenge. Whether you go or not — that's for you to decide."

Qin Jiuze was silent for a long moment, then sighed. "A man's life is his own. It's just that even living, I don't know what for. If Lu Doutang truly has no other road to take and must die here, then at least it spares me the trouble of deciding."

"Lu Doutang is bound to die one way or another. But a man's life is his own. Living — in the end, that's still something to hold on to."

Xu Centurion finished speaking, clapped him on the shoulder, and walked away.

Qin Jiuze gazed absently at the firelight on the distant horizon. "Living as a man... it's not easy."