Chapter 447: Boping

"Why haven't you lit it yet?"

Tan Laizi crouched on the ground, a Banknote laid beside him, flint in hand. Hearing Wei estate steward yell, he hastily struck the flint again, knocking out a few sparks. The sparks landed on the tinder. Tan Laizi moved a little too slowly; when he picked it up and blew, the sparks had already vanished.

A horsewhip beside him lashed out, lashing down on his head and face.

"You useless waste, can't even beat a woman holding a baby, can't even light a fire — what damn use are you!"

The bald Qing soldier beat him as he cursed. Tan Laizi shielded his head with his hands, trying to block with his sleeve, but the estate steward aimed only for his hands and head. Tan Laizi shrieked in pain again and again.

"This slave truly couldn't beat her! Wei estate steward, spare my life!"

Wei estate steward lashed down hard with the whip once more. Tan Laizi screamed and collapsed to the ground, groaning without pause.

"Still not lighting it? How long do we wait to start cooking!"

"This slave lights it, this slave lights it!"

Tan Laizi scrambled up at once, his trembling hands reaching to strike again. Wei estate steward planted a foot on the Banknote. "You've got to crumple the paper first, then it lights easier."

Tan Laizi struck the flint. This time a patch of sparks fell into the tinder; one seemed like it might catch. He carefully cupped it, blowing gently into the tinder.

Smoke rose from the tinder. Seeing a flame bud appear, Wei estate steward kicked it over. "Nurture the fire."

Tan Laizi picked up the crumpled Banknote from the ground and looked up at Wei estate steward.

"Told you to light the fire, what are you looking at me for."

The estate steward raised the whip again as he spoke. Tan Laizi flinched in terror, then with a tear-streaked face held the Banknote to the flame bud, watching the fire catch on the sticker paper. White smoke carrying a paint-like odor billowed up.

Two tears slid down Tan Laizi's face. He turned to grab the prepared fine kindling, carefully setting it over the flame to catch, so that soon he could burn larger chunks of wood.

The estate steward kicked him. "Crying for what?"

Tan Laizi turned his head to look at Wei estate steward before him. "Replying to the master, it's the heavy smoke."

Wei estate steward leaned his head over, his nose right in the rising smoke. "How come this paper of yours smells so fragrant when burned? Bring two more sheets."

Tan Laizi startled. "Replying to the master, when I got this paper, the shopkeeper said not to inhale too much when burning it — it's poisonous!"

"What poison could a sheet of paper have? The master said two more sheets, and today I mean to smell it."

Tan Laizi froze. One sheet was ten taels of silver. Burning it like this, at least thirty taels would be gone today. A thought suddenly flashed through his mind — earlier, when this estate steward beat him, he had avoided striking his padded jacket. He pulled the jacket off and held it out with both hands before Wei estate steward. "From now on you are my master. This lowly one is no ingrate who fails to repay kindness. This lowly one's jacket was newly bought in Xuzhou — I offer it to my master, and beg my master to grant me an old one."

Wei estate steward indeed forgot about burning more Banknotes. He immediately reached out and took it, saying as he did, "A scrawny thing like you, I wouldn't have kept you anyway. You led the way and found grain, so Master Menggetu spared your life. You'd best know what's good for you. Seems you still understand reason."

"This lowly one knows what's good. Weijiawan and Dai Family Bay — this lowly one has been there too. There are many shops inside. This lowly one will lead estate steward there, and we'll surely get good items."

Wei estate steward gave a cold chuckle. "Then you just wait."

He turned and walked away. Tan Laizi shrank back in place, trembling, and hurriedly tossed a piece of wood into the flame. But the fire was still weak, nowhere near enough to ward off the cold for Tan Laizi.

On the ground not far from him lay over ten corpses. The ground was covered in congealed bloodstains. The Tartars had not beheaded them — only stabbed them several times.

The dead were all elderly people and infants, but among them was also one thin, frail man, about the same build as Tan Laizi.

By a single word from that master Menggetu, Tan Laizi had saved his life. He did not know which word had moved this master. All Tan Laizi knew so far was that Menggetu was a corporal Officer. This bald Qing soldier called himself Wei estate steward — what sort of official he was, Tan Laizi still dared not ask.

Tan Laizi glanced left and right. Only four of those captured remained; several others had been divided up and taken away by other Qing soldiers. That woman lay collapsed on the ground, only groaning after a long while. Tan Laizi dared not look at her. The other two crouched to one side. No one dared say a word.

This contingent of Qing cavalry was halted at Balizhuang. Because the light was poor and he could not move about freely, Tan Laizi did not know the Qing force's strength, but their numbers were certainly not small. Among them were quite a few of the Bright Armor Tartars he had seen before.

Unlike the Roving Bandit camps Tan Laizi had stayed in, this Qing force had few Servants. A small portion brought along a mounted Slave; some had no Slaves at all. These Qing soldiers were not only staying inside Balizhuang — they also moved through the surrounding countryside, rounding up many commoners one after another.

Before nightfall, more Qing soldiers arrived. These men also rode horses and led mules, but most wore no armor. Upon arrival, they began arranging meals and setting up camp.

Many of these men spoke Chinese. Tan Laizi could understand most of it, but he could not tell their status — perhaps they were similar to Wei estate steward.

At that moment, Wei estate steward sauntered back, holding a blackened cotton coat in his hand. Tan Laizi was shivering all over from the cold and hurriedly reached out with both hands to take it. Wei estate steward did not hand it over, instead staring mockingly at the trembling Tan Laizi.

Tan Laizi's whole body went rigid. He tilted left and toppled to the ground, then immediately pushed himself back up and kowtowed repeatedly to Wei estate steward.

Wei estate steward held it a moment longer, then threw it on the ground.

"Thank estate steward for the reward!"

Tan Laizi snatched it up at once and clutched it to his chest, then struggled to put it on. This old jacket — who knew where the estate steward had found it, most likely stripped from some corpse — was full of holes everywhere. Much of the cotton inside had leaked out, and what remained had clumped into hard lumps. The whole jacket was stiff and stank, far inferior to his original one. His body still felt bone-piercing cold. At least the fire was finally picking up; he could warm himself while cooking.

By now the sky had gone dark. Flickering firelight danced everywhere inside the village. As the Qing soldiers' figures moved about, light and shadow shifted ceaselessly. Unintelligible accents rose near and far. Everything was utterly alien.

Pale-faced, Tan Laizi clutched the cotton coat and stared at the ashes on the ground, the corner of his mouth twitching. "Where the hell did that goddamned Pang Gunzi run off to? Hurry up and kill these goddamned Tartars."

……

Outside Boping County seat in Dongchang Prefecture, the Anqing Battalion had set camp north of the city. Although including civilian laborers they numbered only a little over two thousand, they had brought a large number of carriages, so the encampment was still quite sprawling.

It was now approaching the midnight. The camp had fallen quiet. Worried about spies, the army had gone to dark camp. No trench had been dug around the camp perimeter; javelins were used as supports, and a single rope was strung to serve as the camp wall.

The Anqing Battalion often used this method of encamping, but with Qing troops now advancing eastward, it was a considerable risk. Pang Yu simply had no other choice — the ground was far too frozen. If they insisted on digging, the soldiers would have no strength left for battle.

Pang Yu could only double the guard force, deploying sentries along the camp wall. The interval between two sentries could not exceed visual range. Every Banner Team had to keep one Squad in armor, and all cannons were loaded and aimed outward.

On the official road outside, an unbroken stream of commoners came from the north. They were all fleeing disaster, utterly exhausted. Though they saw Government Troops nearby, they had no strength left to flee further. In this bitter winter weather, exposure in the open wild was extremely dangerous — for commoners and soldiers alike.

There were some houses outside Boping. The people inside had basically all fled. These refugee commoners smashed open the doors and went in to pass the night, using the door planks for firewood. Outside Boping, smoke coiled everywhere.

Inside the Central Army tent, Pang Yu had not yet rested. Zhuang Chaozheng and Jiang Guoyong were out inspecting the night defenses and were not in the tent. Chen Rulie sat smoking a tobacco pipe. Tu Dianli was continuously marking the map, with Wu Dacai assisting him.

The tent flap lifted, and several guards carried in a platter of flatbread and a few bowls of hot soup. Everyone in the tent helped themselves. Pang Yu grabbed a flatbread and bit down — he found there was no meat inside, but he did not ask further.

Pang Yu wiped his mouth and said to Tu Dianli, "First, the latest situation."

"We just received intelligence sent by the scout cavalry. The Tartars are pursuing extremely fast. The scout cavalry could not hold their footing at Youfang Ferry and only stabilized their line after reaching Dai Family Bay, where the First Cavalry Division provided support. After nightfall, all Banner Teams completed assembly. The scout cavalry from the Chujiaquan direction did not return to Weijiawan, but sent word reporting the situation. Today, the First Cavalry Division Scout Cavalry Banner suffered two killed and three wounded, with six missing during the retreat. The Second Cavalry Division Scout Cavalry Banner suffered one killed and one wounded, none missing. The Scout Cavalry Company directly under Thousand-Leader Headquarters suffered five killed and seven wounded. One Squad of nine men from the Second Banner Team is missing. One Squad of Five from the Third Banner Team is missing in the Qinghe direction. Deducting vacancies and attrition from illness and injury en route, the total number of scout cavalry still capable of combat is one hundred and eighteen men, with one hundred and twenty-one warhorses. We have absorbed a total of twelve cavalrymen from the Xuan-Da and Liao Garrison forces, distributed among the three Banner Teams."

The scout cavalry's losses were extremely severe. In a single day, attrition had reached forty. Subsequent battlefield reconnaissance would be heavily impacted. Chen Rulie, who was smoking, took a fierce drag. Wu Dacai frowned, continuously watching Pang Yu's expression.

"After nightfall, there was firelight in the direction of Youfang Ferry. The Scout Cavalry Company set Forward Scouts in ambush along the road at Dai Family Bay and engaged unidentified cavalry once. The opposing force withdrew immediately upon contact; we could not confirm whether they were Tartars. Three men from the Distant Scouts at Balizhuang did not withdraw; the rest withdrew to Chujiaquan and assembled with the Second Banner Team. Near nightfall, they encountered a small Slave unit at Chujiaquan. One engagement yielded no results, but it confirmed that Tartar cavalry have appeared at Chujiaquan and Zhaojiaquan, roughly a hundred men at each location, with a small number crossing the river."

Chen Rulie suddenly burst out cursing. "Tens of thousands of troops inside Linqing city, watching the Tartars draw near, and not a single one comes out to fight! Just our hundred-odd scout cavalry dealing with the Tartars — what kind of war is the Ministry of War fighting!"

Wu Dacai, seeing that Pang Yu had not spoken, did not pick up this thread. Tilting his head to look at the map, he said, "Youfang is about fifty-plus li from Linqing, and Chujiaquan is also fifty-plus li. Are the Tartars trying to bypass Linqing or besiege it?"

Tu Dianli, too preoccupied to eat his flatbread, pointed at Linqing's position with the fingers that had been holding the bread. "It should be a bypass. If they meant to attack, they would be closer — no need to go all the way to Youfang and Chujiaquan. Whether bypass or attack, we can't count on the military garrisons inside Linqing. Part of a garrison south of the city scattered today. When our scout cavalry retreated, they encountered Household Retainers from that unit also heading east. Upon inquiry, they were troops under Tongzhou Regional Commander Liu Zeqing. After word of the Tartars' eastward advance reached Linqing, the troops stationed outside the city all demanded to enter the city. Supervisor-in-Chief Gao only let a small number in, then locked all the gates, personally keeping the keys. The troops left outside the city grew unstable, fearing a Tartar attack. Some of those with horses took advantage of the chaos and fled."

"Tens of thousands of men, and they couldn't even sortie once?" Pang Yu felt some tension in his own heart. According to intelligence gathered by the scout cavalry, heavy troops were massed inside and outside Linqing city. The externally transferred forces alone included Gao Qiqian's twenty-thousand-strong Guan-Ning Army, He Zong's three thousand under Zhou Ding, Denglai Grand Coordinator Yang Wenyue's four thousand, Tongzhou Regional Commander Liu Zeqing's three thousand, Tianjin Regional Commander Liu Furong's two thousand, plus the Linqing Regional Commander originally in the city — total strength approached forty thousand.

There were forty thousand Ming Army troops inside Linqing city, occupying a favorable interior line from which they could conveniently sortie in any direction, while the Qing army's northern and southern routes were geographically cut off and could not support each other. For the Qing's massive force to bypass such a large city, their entire column would be vulnerable to attack — especially with tens of thousands of enemies inside. An ordinary army facing such a situation would not dare bypass it casually.

But judging from the Qing army's current posture, they might truly intend to bypass it. The only effect on the Qing army was that their line of march could not pass too close to Linqing. The ferry crossings near the prefectural city were unusable — the upstream Youfang Ferry and downstream Chujiaquan were both about fifty li distant.

If the intelligence the mounted scouts obtained is accurate, then the various units at Linqing have already lost all will to fight; no troops will sortie from the city to do battle. Pang Yu can count on no one.

If the Qing army continues its advance tomorrow, the isolated and outnumbered Anqing Battalion will be directly in the path of tens of thousands of Qing troops, with no friendly support whatsoever. Judging from today, the Anqing Battalion's mobility simply cannot compare with the Qing army's. In just a single day, the Qing vanguard has already advanced over a hundred li, their cavalry spreading throughout the area around Linqing.

The most urgent task now is to disengage from directly in front of the Qing army's spearhead. Otherwise, once they are overtaken, the Qing army will rapidly concentrate its forces and surround them.

Pang Yu felt a stir of irritation. He tugged at his collar and said, "From Wei County to Youfang Crossing, the Tartar vanguard covered over a hundred li today. Going via Yao'an Town to Chujiaquan is eighty li. The ones who traveled farthest may have reached Dai Family Bay. That means they definitely did not make a detour through Youfang Crossing, but crossed the river somewhere near Linqing. If the Tartars really reached Dai Family Bay this evening, they are only seventy li from here. How far will they march tomorrow?"