Chapter 439

At one quarter past noon on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, at Xiabao Temple in Linqing Prefecture. Yang Guangdi, dressed in a constable uniform, hauled a bucket of water up beside a deep well in the temple's northwest corner. Water splashed noisily onto the well's rim; Yang Guangdi hopped back, nearly soaking his shoes.

This place lay in western Linqing. Xiabao Temple was a famous monastery in the region, first built during the Tang Dynasty. To the temple's north was the official road leading to Shanxi; to its south was Linqing's main thoroughfare, which led west to Yao'an Town. With its long history and convenient transport, the temple's incense offerings had always flourished, and a market town had grown up around it.

Dozens of wells around the temple supplied the gathered pilgrims and travelers. Earlier, when the Qing army's Left Wing Army had failed to take Linqing, they had passed through here. After a brief halt, the Qing forces had moved on to Wei County. Monks soon returned to the temple, but the surrounding area remained far from peaceful. The Qing Left Wing Army was encamped at Wei County, with over ten camp grounds established. Linqing, too, was thick with government troops; after Gao Qiqian's Liaodong Garrison arrived, Linqing's total troop strength reached fifty to sixty thousand men.

Xiabao Temple lay between the two positions. Ming Army activity here mainly involved scouting toward Wei County to determine the Qing army's direction of movement. Two days earlier, a Liaodong cavalry force had gone further west to Yao'an Town — a fairly large contingent, over a thousand cavalry alone, plus more than two thousand accompanying auxiliary troops. It did not look like an ordinary scouting party.

After confirming the Qing army had shifted west, the Ranger Cavalry also crossed the river from Chujiaquan and probed westward along the official road. The Cavalry Division's centurion remained at Eighteen-Mile Post, focusing scouting efforts on the Wei County direction, while a squad was also dispatched each to Qinghe and Guantao.

But the further west they went, the more frequent Liaodong Garrison activity became. It was inconvenient for the Ranger Cavalry to go straight to the front lines; they had yet to engage the Qing army. When encountering Ming Army scouts questioning them on the road, the Ranger Cavalry uniformly claimed to be mounted constables from Xuzhou in Nanzhili, sent by the local yamen to gather intelligence.

Because every region had suffered from poor intelligence during the Roving Bandit suppression campaigns, prefectural and county yamen all liked to dispatch their own scouts to probe the surrounding area. Some Shandong prefectures and counties had indeed sent mounted constables to operate around Linqing, though none had ventured as deep as the Ranger Cavalry, so the Ming troops never grew suspicious.

Since the Qing army had not moved, its position was relatively clear. From these Ming troops, they learned that the Qing had over ten camp stockades, each encampment very large. Inside were not only Qing soldiers but also vast numbers of captured commoners and livestock. The Qing army was still stationed near the Wei County seat; no one knew what they were waiting for.

The ones who came to Xiabao Temple were Yang Guangdi's banner team. The temple itself was habitable, but its courtyard walls were quite high and exits few — easy to get trapped in. The banner commander chose to set up in a ruined compound north of the official road, but the well there had corpses dumped in it, so Yang Guangdi had to go to the temple to fetch water.

Suddenly, a dense clatter of hooves sounded on the official road. Yang Guangdi hastily set down the water buckets and hid behind a large tree not far from the well. The hoofbeats drew steadily closer. Yang Guangdi's heart pounded with panic. He was on the south side of the official road, his mount not beside him. If those coming were Tartars, he would not even have a chance to flee.

He peeked out and saw roughly two hundred-plus cavalry racing along the official road. Their uniforms looked like those of the Liaodong Garrison troops who had passed through earlier. These Liaodong soldiers spurred their horses and galloped down the official road without even stopping to drink. A bow case fell onto the road edge not far from Yang Guangdi, but the Liaodong troops did not pick it up; without a backward glance, they headed toward Linqing, utterly heedless of their horses' stamina, in evident haste.

Several dozen more riders passed in succession behind them, then the official road fell quiet again for a time. Carrying his two water buckets, Yang Guangdi came to the roadside. After glancing left and right and seeing no travelers on the road, he picked up the bow case and hung it on himself, then immediately crossed the road and dashed quickly into the compound.

In the outer courtyard, over ten Ranger Cavalrymen in constable uniforms had gathered. They had all readied their weapons, and their horses were fully prepared.

The banner commander took the bow case hanging from Yang Guangdi's body and examined it, finding a Liaodong Garrison mark on it. The glue on the bow had been maintained — it was not unusable equipment. The banner commander glanced outside and cursed, "Are those Liaodong Garrison troops running for their lives? Abandoning a fine bow like this."

His words had barely faded when hoofbeats sounded again on the official road outside, less dense than the last time.

The Ranger Cavalrymen began preparing again. The banner commander peered out and said, "Our own."

Five riders came flying in from the west, all wearing constable uniforms, some with an extra padded jacket layered on top.

The squad leader at their head rushed into the courtyard and said urgently, "Liaodong Garrison and Shanyong troops are coming along the main road. The Liaodong Garrison at Yao'an Town is fleeing for their lives — they didn't even pack up their camp tents."

"Did the Tartars turn back?"

The squad leader shook his head. "They say Lu Doutang led the Xuan-Da Army into battle against the Tartars, and the Xuan-Da Army was defeated."

The courtyard erupted in noise. Half the Ranger Cavalry here had fought in the Chuzhou Campaign, where Lu Xiangsheng had routed a multitude of Roving Bandits in one strike, leaving a deep impression on everyone. When the Qing army had earlier moved west, the Ranger Cavalry had also assumed that Lu Doutang had won a victory and forced the Qing to consolidate their camps. They had never expected to suddenly receive such news.

The banner commander froze for a moment. "Was it the Tartars at Wei County who defeated him, or the Tartars on the western route?"

"Don't know. Anyway, every faction is fleeing toward Linqing. The household retainers are running in front; they can't be bothered with the battalion commanders anymore. Camp tents and everything else — all abandoned, left behind as they flee after them."

"The Xuan-Da Army was defeated. His Liaodong Garrison wasn't — what are they running for?"

The banner commander had just finished cursing when hoofbeats sounded again outside. He peered out from the doorway. On the main road was an unbroken stream of cavalry; many men's helmets were gone. Even their banners were all furled. There was no telling which general officer they belonged to.

The Ranger Cavalrymen exchanged glances. The earlier intelligence they had received was that the Xuan-Da Army numbered around thirty thousand men. If the thirty thousand border troops led by Lu Xiangsheng had been defeated, then what battalion could withstand a single blow from the Tartars? The Liaodong Garrison ahead had all fled. If their own small band of Ranger Cavalry stayed behind, even if they scouted everything clearly, it would be useless.

Yang Guangdi stared blankly at the others, then looked at the banner commander, his face full of bewilderment.

The banner commander swept his gaze over the group. After a moment, he said in a tone that brooked no argument, "The Liaodong Garrison men have left. Best if every garrison leaves — then the Tartars won't be on guard. Ranger Cavalry are, by nature, Ta Bai — those who tread the van. Others leave; we go instead. There's already one banner team at Yao'an Town. We'll head to the north side of Wei County and scout the Tartars' movements clearly."

…

On the evening of the fourteenth day of the twelfth month, the light in the west gradually dimmed.

At Thirty-Li Post, northeast of Wei County, the small market town that had once grown around the relay post was now a scene of utter ruin. It had not snowed in recent days; the land was a mottled patchwork of black and white. All kinds of footprints overlapped thickly on the ground, impossible to distinguish.

"Yu Er Ge, three on horseback and two on foot coming. Border Army gear, outer robes with fur collars."

Inside a thatched hut whose roof had collapsed, Yang Guangdi lay prone beside a mud-brick wall, observing the road outside through a hole.

Yu Er Ge pressed close to another hole. Outside on the official road were three figures, spaced far apart, cautiously making their way into the market town along the road.

All three horses lacked spirit, clearly having traveled no short while. The three riders ceaselessly scanned the ruins on either side of the road.

Yu Er Ge said in a low voice, "The first one has a queue — he's a Tartar. Use your fire lance on him."

The other several Ranger Cavalrymen in the hut picked up the waist sabers and short-handled axes beside them, readying for combat.

Yang Guangdi said quietly, "The Liaodong Garrison has Tartars too. Don't shoot the wrong man."

Their squad had only arrived here today. They had not encountered any Tartar cavalry all day, but the intelligence was still useful to the Ranger Cavalry.

The Qing army's camp was near the county seat. They would certainly send out large numbers of scout cavalry around the camp to control the intelligence advantage on the battlefield. The Tartars had ventured deep on campaign, their men and horses obliged to follow the camp. Scout cavalry generally would not stay away from camp overnight. Given a scout cavalry's travel range, a round trip of a hundred li was feasible. Not encountering any Tartar scout cavalry today meant they were beyond the enemy's reconnaissance range; a standard estimate would place the main Qing camp over fifty li away.

But the banner commander believed the Qing camp was within fifty li, because their horses' stamina was depleted after the long winter march, so they had reduced their scouting range.

The banner commander planned to spend the night right here at Thirty-Li Post, then continue advancing twenty li from this direction and engage the Tartar scouts in battle tomorrow.

The Ranger Cavalry had also just arrived not long ago and settled in the northeast corner of the market town — a direction that would be easy to flee in if anything happened. Scattered troops did not have strong survival ability in the cold night, and the Tartars were still unfamiliar with the roads, so nighttime activity on their part was unlikely. The Tartar scouts who had gone out would have returned to camp by now. Yang Guangdi had already been gathering firewood, preparing to light a fire for warmth; he had not expected riders to come when it was nearly dark.

The three riders reached the middle of the market town, still some distance from the northeast corner where Yang Guangdi and the others were hiding.

Yu Er Ge took up a Jue Zhang crossbow. This crossbow had been borrowed from the Scout Squad. After their encounter with Qing troops at Chujiaquan, they had gained a new understanding of the enemy's armor-wearing rate, especially the White Armor Soldier leading them. The banner commander judged that White Armor Soldier to be wearing double or even triple armor, which arrows could not penetrate.

Yang Guangdi's Lumi gun had become the banner commander's key focus; he asked about it every day and had Yang Guangdi practice loading whenever they rested. There had been no place to acquire more Lumi guns along the way, so they could only borrow one Jue Zhang crossbow from the Scout Squad.

Yu Er Ge stepped on the foot stirrup and slowly began drawing the string. The crossbow body emitted faint creaking sounds.

Outside, the middle rider suddenly looked in this direction. Yang Guangdi immediately shut his eyes and slowly withdrew from the hole.

That middle rider kept staring toward the thatched hut. Yang Guangdi, though on the side with the advantage, found his mouth dry and tongue parched, feeling as if he had already been spotted.

Just then, a startled cry rang out from outside, followed by the sound of someone running. When Yang Guangdi looked again, he saw two figures dressed as commoners dash through the market street and flee north into an alley. The three riders immediately spurred their horses in pursuit, shouts trailing all the way.

Wails and cries carried far, echoing through the market streets. Yu Er Ge waved a hand, and several men emerged from the thatched hut. The banner commander, leading a few Ranger Cavalrymen, also appeared in the street. They followed the sound of weeping.

In the alley was an inn. Its shop sign had fallen onto the street curb stones. The weeping was coming from inside.

"Please, soldier lords, spare us. We still have family, parents back home — they're all counting on us to escape with our lives and return to support them. Please, soldier lords, spare our lives!"

A somewhat peculiar northern accent roared, "Let go!"

"Soldier lord, leave us a little food, or we'll starve to death before we can return home… Ah!"

The commoner let out a miserable scream. Yang Guangdi trembled slightly. Following behind Yu Er Ge, he approached the main door.

A weathered voice said, "If you don't let go, you'll die right now."

The commoner wailed twice. The peculiar accent chuckled twice. "Just gave his hand a cut. Won't kill him."

At that moment, the commoner's voice sounded again — muffled sobbing. The weathered voice asked, "What place is this?"

The commoner answered, "Wei… east side of Wei County."

"How far is it still to Linqing?"

"On horseback, another day's ride and we'll arrive."

Silence fell within for a moment, broken only by the groans of the common folk. That weathered voice finally spoke. "Go throw yourselves at the Liao Garrison on your own. I'm not going."

Yu Lao'er glanced back at Yang Guangdi, then turned and walked over to the doorway.

That strange voice inside asked, "Then where are you going, Old Qin?"

"I don't know." Old Qin coughed twice. "Whenever I die, that'll be clean and done."

"You're not going back to Xuan-Da to kill Tartars?"

"No one truly wants to kill Tartars. Those who truly wanted to kill Tartars are all dead..."

The speech inside suddenly halted. The sound of swords being drawn came through — they had clearly noticed the situation outside. The Banner Commander bellowed and charged into the inn with the mounted scouts.

Yang Guangdi followed at the rear. Charging in, he saw two people lying on the ground, a bundle scattered open on the floor, and a pool of blood beside it. The three riders, Waist Sabers in hand, had retreated to the corner. In the middle stood the very man who had been staring at the thatched shed earlier, his face full of wrinkles, looking indifferently at the mounted scouts before him.