Chapter 464: City Defense

The city wall of Dong'e swarmed with heads; the common folk outside the parade ground scattered toward the surrounding wilderness, becoming clusters of small black dots across the open fields. Thick smoke billowed within the parade ground, several fires flaring up. Among the tents, many soldiers chased and hacked at one another. In the horse pasture on the east side, panicked horses collided and trampled each other.

A boom sounded from the south gate. Several Qing soldiers who had fled to the gate collapsed screaming, splinters flying from the wooden doors. The Qing soldiers behind had no time to spare for these comrades, skirting the corpses and wounded on the ground as they continued their desperate flight.

Seeing Qing soldiers running out, the people on the city wall pointed at them and shouted curses, as if their voices alone could kill these Qing troops. Once out the gate, the Qing soldiers fled in blind panic, some heading east, some west. They had no formation, each man bolting in utter disarray.

From the north, red-clad cavalry came along the post road. North of the parade ground, they split into two columns: one veered off the road to circle around the west side, the other continued toward the north gate.

The cavalry swiftly cleared the road outside the north gate, their ranks pouring in like a flood. The parade ground gradually brimmed with red. The red cavalry rounded the west side, hunting down the Tartars fleeing westward. Every time a Qing soldier fell from his horse, the city wall erupted in waves of cheers.

The red cavalry column pursued the Qing troops, surging westward toward Dongchang Prefecture.

……

At the second quarter of the Wei hour, the crowd on the walls of Dong'e City grew thicker. At the city tower, someone even held up a sign reading "Make Way."

Chen Rulie stood at the south gate of the parade ground. Scattered before the gate were severed limbs and shredded flesh. A squad of captives was being marched out of the parade ground, about twenty in number. Their hands were bound. Their hairstyles included both the money-queue rat-tail and the small braids covering the head of the Outer Vassal Mongols.

The Anqing soldiers driving them punched and kicked them. Some even used their swords to slash the captives' faces. These Qing soldiers dared not resist in the slightest, looking utterly exhausted. They crouched silently in a cluster outside the south gate, a world apart from their earlier swaggering arrogance.

With the appearance of these captives, the jeers and curses on the walls of Dong'e boiled over once more.

"One hundred thirty-seven heads taken, twenty-three captives in total, mostly Outer Vassal Mongols and Han Army. They confess there are two hundred men outside the prefectural city of Dongchang Prefecture. The ratio of True Yi, Mongols, and Han Army is similar to here. Their orders were to scout south for any large bodies of government troops, encamp at Dong'e until tomorrow, then proceed to Pingyin... No large groups of Tartars remain further south."

Amid the clamor, the operations advisor from the Thousand-Leader Headquarters reported loudly at Chen Rulie's side. Mid-sentence, he stepped on a severed arm and nearly fell into a pool of blood.

Chen Rulie walked as he spoke. "What are the losses among the ranger cavalry?"

"Fourteen dead, twenty-two wounded. Only a little over forty remain fit for use. Among the dead are two squad leaders. The squads will have to be reorganized again today, or they'll be uneven again."

Chen Rulie listened, frowning in silence. The ambush had gone more smoothly than expected. The ranger cavalry alone had routed the Qing troops inside the parade ground. Most of those remaining were Outer Vassal Mongols and Han Army; there were not many True Yi. The final counterattack by the small number of True Yi had still caused losses among the ranger cavalry. Their reconnaissance strength continued to weaken.

After a long while, Chen Rulie turned to the operations advisor beside him. "Send another relay horse to Tongcheng Post. Report the situation just now to His Excellency Pang. Since the Advisory Room wants to move south, there's still half a day left. The carriages can reach Dong'e before nightfall."

Once the advisor left, Chen Rulie called over the Banner Officer. "Go tell the city tower that the Anqing Battalion has two hundred heads taken at Tongcheng Post and over a hundred heads taken at the parade ground. The county yamen needs to send people to verify and report the merits. Tell them to send people quickly. Once verified, request they report it to Dongchang Prefecture."

"Commander Thousand-Leader, the two hundred-plus heads taken were at Thirty-Li Post."

Chen Rulie waved his hand dismissively. "Thirty-Li Post belongs to Chiping. Dong'e can't verify those. Just say they were from Tongcheng Post."

The Banner Officer acknowledged the order. Before he could head to the city tower, a ranger cavalryman came running up. He said loudly, "Reporting to Commander Thousand-Leader, the people on the city tower over there are asking us if we're that group of Southern Troops who passed through some days ago. They also say the County Magistrate is on the city tower and requests Your Excellency come over to speak."

Chen Rulie froze for a moment. Ever since they had left North Gorge Pass, no prefecture or county had ever received them kindly. They were always guarded against like thieves. Being permitted to send men into the city to purchase supplies was already considered a great favor.

Dong'e now taking the initiative to come and talk meant there was a possibility of purchasing supplies. But this was of little real use to the Anqing Battalion. The army was not short on grain at the moment. If Dong'e could open its city gates, however, that would be a godsend to the Anqing Battalion.

The walls of Dong'e were four li and ten paces in circumference, two zhang and five chi in height, with no collapsed breaches. Its size was perfectly suited to the Anqing Battalion's current scale. If they could enter Dong'e County town, the Anqing Battalion would not need to continue retreating south. With such intact city walls, defending the city with cannons and iron-armored heavy infantry would make assaulting such a stronghold an extremely grueling task for any army.

But judging from prior experience, the likelihood of the County Magistrate permitting the army to enter the city was very low, especially since the Anqing Battalion had no civil official leading it. Such decisions generally also required consideration of the opinions of the city's gentry, and the gentry were mostly very averse to guest armies.

Still, Chen Rulie intended to give it a try. He walked directly out the south gate, stepping over the severed limbs and bloody water on the ground. Just as he passed the captives, he suddenly heard the operations advisor shouting from behind.

He stopped and waited for the advisor to catch up. The operations advisor's face was flushed. Before he had even steadied himself, he said hurriedly, "Urgent orders from the Central Army. Around the beginning of the Si hour, roughly one thousand Tartar cavalry surrounded Instruction Ground. The Third Company lost over forty men during the retreat. The rest fell back to Tongcheng Post. The Tartars have reached north of Tongcheng Post. At the time the message was sent, they were circling southward. The vanguard numbers around two hundred riders. His Excellency Pang's military order: due to unclear enemy situation, the Dong'e cavalry need not immediately return to Tongcheng Post. Led by Commander Battalion Commander Chen, they are to operate independently, seeking out enemy weak points to attack."

Chen Rulie's expression flickered between dark and bright. Those around him dared not disturb him. The nearby signalmen who overheard all looked tense. They had just achieved victory at Dong'e. Given just half a day more, the Anqing Battalion could have escaped the predicament of being threatened from front and rear. Once they broke contact with the Qing army, they could have fully seized the initiative for subsequent operations. Now, with the Qing army besieging Tongcheng Post, the earlier victory over the Qing troops at Dong'e was rendered meaningless. The Garrison Battalion's situation had sharply deteriorated.

"Cut off the thumbs of all the captives. Order the cavalry to assemble." Chen Rulie looked up at that ranger cavalryman from before. "Take me to see that County Magistrate immediately."

……

At Tongcheng Post, Pang Yu stood atop the West Gate city tower, holding a telescope. Around a hundred Tartar cavalrymen were scattered across the wilderness to the west. Several general officers were pointing toward a breach on the north side.

Even though the Advisory Room had gained some understanding of the Qing army, they had still underestimated their mobility. The Qing army had very likely completed their maneuver during the night. Their cavalry had come with fierce speed, directly encircling the forward scouts at Instruction Ground. The Third Company had suffered heavy losses while breaking out.

Because Chen Rulie had taken troops to attack Dong'e, only three regular cavalry companies remained inside the post. One of them had just retreated from Instruction Ground, with only half its men left. This made the defense of Tongcheng Post even more stretched, especially regarding light infantry.

Looking from the West Gate toward Cross Street, an unending stream of civilians was moving from South City to North City.

On the West Gate city tower, a banner team of heavy infantry was deploying. Over a dozen civilian laborers were stacking a street barricade. In front of the barricade, bamboo baskets were being piled up, which the laborers were filling with bricks and stones. On the city stairs facing north, seven or eight laborers were pushing a millstone up the steps.

On the wall section thirty paces south of the West Gate tower, five or six millstones were placed in a staggered pattern, intended to disrupt the Qing army's assault formations.

Two cannons were positioned at the north and south city stairways respectively. Pang Yu was only defending North City, which involved three city gates. These three city towers were the core defensive positions, simultaneously controlling the city walls, the interior, and the exterior. The weak points were the city stairs.

Therefore, street barricades were constructed below the city towers. Bamboo baskets filled with bricks, stones, and earth were stacked up, raising the ground by three chi. On top of these, a breastwork was built using more bamboo baskets. The city gate tunnel was also protected within the street barricade. Its outer end was packed solid with bricks and stones, while the inner end stored various supplies. This barricade controlled both the street and guarded the city stairs.

Zhuang Chaozheng's Thousand-Leader banner was planted at Cross Street. This time, the Personal Guard Division was the absolute main force. The remaining cavalry could only serve as light infantry to support them. Cross Street was the defensive center of gravity for the entire city. The street barricade there was heaped with all kinds of materials. One company of heavy infantry was deployed there, while groups of civilian laborers continued hauling bamboo baskets.

Tongcheng Post was a long, narrow strip running north-south. Both the market town and the walled post were established along the post road. The Anqing Battalion's defenses were also deployed along this post road that cut through the post. From Cross Street northward, there were five more large street barricades, built all the way to the base of the North Gate. Even though the Tartars had already arrived, construction was still ongoing.

In the overall deployment, one heavy infantry company each was assigned to the West Gate, Cross Street, East Gate, and North Gate. The remaining one was held as a reserve. The cavalry could only be used as auxiliary light infantry.

Another pillar of the city defense was the Anqing Battalion's small bronze cannons. Because the heavy armor soldiers had relatively few long-range strike troops, the Personal Guard Division's artillery complement was double that of conventional infantry. According to regulations, each division had four cannons, and the Thousand-Leader Headquarters had eight directly subordinate, totaling sixteen. Before departure, fourteen had actually completed training. Two of those remained with the rear detachment in Anqing.

En route, one cannon barrel was damaged due to a carriage collapse, leaving eleven. The Cavalry Chief-of-a-Thousand Department had a total artillery complement of eight cannons. Four directly under the Artillery Division went to Dong'e, leaving four actually at Tongcheng Post.

The Anqing Battalion had a total of fifteen two-and-a-half-jin bronze cannons, carrying one thousand one hundred rounds of ammunition. Sixty percent were solid shot, forty percent canister shot. That averaged seventy rounds per cannon.

Two cannons were allocated to the city tower position at each of the three city gates. They could be moved up and down the city wall via the city stairs and were primarily loaded with solid shot. Four cannons were allocated to Cross Street, and the rest were distributed among the subsequent street barricades.

Going from the West Gate along the city wall to the South Gate was nearly two li, and there were several collapsed sections. Because there were too many collapsed sections, it was impossible for the Qing army to attack along the wall. Pang Yu planned to abandon South City outright. But for now, cavalry were still on alert in South City. The Qing troops outside the city also dared not enter, having been ambushed in the market town just yesterday.

All the street barricades were still under construction. The breach in the north wall had just been repaired and could not yet be called sound. The civilian laborers organized by the Logistics Team were working frantically, racing against time with the Qing army.

The Qing vanguard showed signs of continuing southward, possibly heading to North Peak Shop to encamp, which would completely encircle the Anqing Battalion at Tongcheng Post. This Qing vanguard would certainly be extremely cautious. It would be impossible to defeat them again with ambushes and sneak attacks. The cavalry under Pang Yu's command was split into two places. The dispersed defense of Tongcheng Pu prevented any massing of forces. In a conventional engagement, the three companies at Dong'e could not defeat this Qing vanguard either.

The roughly one thousand Qing troops that had raided Instruction Ground — it was unknown if more were following. Cao Cao's several hundred veteran camp troops had battered Pang Yu black and blue by the Pure Stream River. Now, facing over a thousand Qing cavalry, he dared even less to force a retreat under their threat. The only option left was to hold fast at Tongcheng Post.

Pang Yu lowered his telescope. Tu Dianli beside him said in a low voice, "This humble one's estimation was in error, causing the great army to be besieged. I beg Your Excellency to mete out punishment."

"The Tartars surrounded the Xuan-Da army in a single night. We were all underestimating the enemy. The responsibility lies with this official." Pang Yu shook his head. After yesterday's battle, they should have immediately sent cavalry to attack Dong'e. If it had gone as smoothly as today, they could have retreated to Dong'e overnight, crossed the Great Qing River into the mountains today, and the Qing army would have had great difficulty catching up. "When can each street barricade be completed? How is the production progress of the fire thunder?"

"If the Tartars do not attack, they can be finished tonight. Enough hands have been recruited for the fire thunder. The bottleneck is dismantling firecrackers and polishing the bamboo tubes, which takes time. We've now found another group of women to simply wrap gunpowder and iron nails in cloth. We can complete two thousand of those tonight."

Pang Yu nodded. "Also, we don't have enough light infantry for combat. Try to recruit some able-bodied men from the civilian laborers, the Logistics Division, and the common folk. Even if they just do support work, it would be good."

Tu Dianli leaned in closer and said, "Most of those in the fortified village come from the Roving Bandits' servants. Those men can only serve as manual labor. The mule grooms recruited in Anqing who work in the livestock trade, on the other hand, can actually produce some capable men. Many people here at Tongcheng Post are in the armed escort business; many households practice martial arts. Over a hundred have already been recruited, including two Military Examination Candidate among them." (Note 1)

Pang Yu relaxed slightly. "Issue them the Personal Guard Division's reserve weapons. Give armor to the strong ones to fight alongside the heavy armor soldiers. Go arrange it as quickly as possible."

"Your subordinate will handle it immediately." Tu Dianli turned and hurried off toward Cross Street.

After he had gone far, Pang Ding's voice sounded beside him. "Young Master, there are no boats to use here. But there are only a dozen or so Tartars outside the South Gate. Take one cavalry company and charge through. Once you reach Dong'e, keep going south. The Tartars won't be able to catch up."

Pang Yu turned to look toward Cross Street and said with a frown, "If I leave, what do you think the people remaining here will think?"

"Just say you've gone to fetch reinforcements."

Pang Yu shot him a glance. "Would you believe that?"

Pang Ding shook his head. "Doubt."

"I should have led the troops to Dong'e myself — leaving in the morning and leaving now are two entirely different things." Pang Yu finished with Resentment, then turned to look inside the city. "If I leave now, everyone will know what it means. The men staying behind will lose heart. Some might follow and flee. Everyone will start looking out for themselves. Once the army's spirit breaks, this city will collapse without a fight. The Tartars will take it, slaughter everyone inside, and from then on the Anqing Battalion will never have the heart to fight the Tartars to the death."

Pang Ding waited a moment, then said, "Young master always says risk must match reward. There's no retreat here. Young master, is taking such a great Danger really worth it?"

"This is the edge of the Tartar advance. Tongcheng Post may be broken, but it still has a wall — it's not so easy to take. With Heavy Infantry and Cannon holding it, it's a small city with tough troops. The Tartars would have to shift men from other parts of the front. The army's entire Direction would change, supply lines would have to be rearranged, and their whole plan would fall into chaos. The Tartars have sent their army deep into enemy land. I believe their tolerance for casualties is not high. They've already seized goods. Tartars are human too — they don't lack food or clothing, and they've taken Bondservants. They want to go back to Liaodong and live well. Who wants to throw their life away? So I believe this Danger may not be as great as it looks. If we hold this place, our Anqing Battalion will never fear the Tartars again."

Pang Ding stole a glance at Pang Yu. "What if the young master guessed wrong? When it comes to Battle, young master, you haven't guessed right many times."

Pang Yu let out a short laugh, then Turned Around and headed toward the City Stairs. "I've already decided to stay. Go to Dong'e and tell Chen Rulie not to fight the Tartars head-on. He doesn't have to return to Tongcheng Post. Tell him to be bolder and more flexible."

Pang Ding hurried after him. "Then I'll stay too and keep the young master company. If something happens to the young master, I won't be able to go back and face the old master."

Pang Yu stopped and looked at Pang Ding. Pang Ding kept his head down and said nothing. Pang Yu smiled. "Then come with your young master."

"Young master, where are we going?"

Pang Yu said seriously, "Every section of the City Wall, every Street Barricade, every place where Fire Thunder is made, every place where the wounded are settled — let every man know that the Vice General of Anqing, Pang Yu, is holding this city together with them."

……

Note 1: Tongcheng Post had a tradition of armed escort. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, martial training was so widespread there that it produced over twenty people including a Military Examination Candidate Principal Graduate and Military Examination Candidate graduates. It was famous for the Tongcheng Erlang Fist, which originated in the Chenghua era, and enjoyed the reputation that "no fist strikes Tongcheng."