Chapter 483: Self-Questioning

"On our camp's south side, the fire soldiers of the Yansui Garrison left camp in an uproar; on the west side, Cloud Garrison cavalry left camp and their whereabouts are unknown; on the north side, household retainers of the Governor's Standard Right Battalion left camp, and their chief officer's recognition banner headed toward Liu Zhongtang's central army. Outside our camp's southeast and south gates, there are three groups of men and horses dressed as household retainers, totaling about a hundred men. Identified by the night-not-returning scouts who have joined us, the largest group is Cloud Garrison household retainers. Around the camp perimeter, there are also over two hundred laborers."

Pang Yu said simply, "The whole battalion on combat alert. Camp gates under martial law. Anyone charging the camp gates or walls may be seized and arrested. Those resisting with weapons are to be struck down and killed at once. All orders passed by word of mouth — do not use signal horns or drums."

Inside the Anqing Cavalry Camp's encampment, most of the troops had already finished donning their armor. The cannons of each division and section were moving into position.

"Have we made contact with Zhou Yuji?"

"The perimeter of Liu Zhongtang's central army is entirely surrounded by household retainers from the various garrisons. Vice Regional Commander Zhou has sealed his camp gates. Sun Doutang has now arrived, but we still don't know how the situation stands."

Pang Yu waved a hand and sat down on a long bench in the corner of the tent. The scout riders sent out to reconnoiter returned from time to time, bringing intelligence on the friendly forces around them. Most of the camp heads were clamoring, but basic order still held. Some auxiliary troops and laborers had fled; their escape route was basically westward, away from the Qing army.

Tu Dianli and the others continued collating intelligence at the desk and laid out a new schematic of the camp to facilitate defensive deployment.

Because the ground was hard, no trenches had been dug around the camp. When the encampment was laid out, the Anqing Battalion had friendly forces stationed on its north, south, and west sides; the Qing army's threat came mainly from the east. The Anqing Battalion had arrayed its carriages along the camp wall on the east side, with the surplus carriages deployed on the south side. No one expected that now, with the friendly forces mutinying, the undefended sides would actually pose the greatest threat. The positions of the heavy armor soldiers needed to be readjusted.

Pang Yu had never imagined that the campaign to rally to the king would turn out like this. Facing a ponderous, slow-moving Qing army, so many relief troops would rather mutiny than attempt an attack.

Though the troops of Nanzhili were weak, they still dared to face the roving bandits in battle at Fengjiadian. These relief armies, however, had been utterly terrified out of their wits by the Qing army.

"Which camp heads are taking part in the clamor?"

"Suisui, Cloud Garrison, Datong, Xuanfu, the Supervisor Battalion's Central Battalion, Right Battalion, Baoding — all of them have a share. Even Zheng Jiadong and Li Guozheng of the Qin Army Governor's Standard went."

Pang Yu raised his head to look at Tu Dianli, who was making the report. The ones before were scraped together from the Nine Borders, mainly from Xuan-Da. Although the mutiny was primarily directed at Liu Yuliang, Sun Chuanting was the nominal Regional Commander. If these troops really did mutiny and flee, the first to be punished would be Sun Chuanting. That men from the Qin Army's own Governor's Standard had also taken part surprised Pang Yu somewhat.

"Only Zhou Yuji, Cao Bianjiao, and we didn't go. But one of Cao Bianjiao's subordinates, a brigade general, did."

Pang Yu signaled Tu Dianli to continue with the defensive arrangements. Outside the main tent, the sounds of columns marching past came through from time to time.

Pang Ding brought over a cup of tea. After Pang Yu took it, he said in a low voice, "Young Master, they surrounded the Capital Battalion and deliberately left our Anqing Battalion out — they're treating us as outsiders."

"Add the Liao Garrison that followed behind, and the Nine Borders are basically all assembled. They've been in the north a long time; whether fighting the Western Invaders or the Eastern Invaders, they're always running into each other. Their ways of doing things are fairly similar, so naturally they treat us as outsiders." Pang Yu blew on the surface of the tea; a few tea leaves drifted with the motion. "They're probably gathered together right now, going on about how the Anqing Battalion doesn't know the rules."

Pang Ding laughed when he heard this. "Let them talk. Maybe they've already mustered an army of over ten thousand to wipe out the Anqing Battalion to the last man."

Pang Yu smiled and took a sip of tea. The Anqing Battalion had been summoned by Liu Yuliang. As soon as they reached Dezhou, Sun Chuanting had dispatched the assembled relief troops to guard the various prefectures and counties. Pang Yu couldn't even recognize all the men; the only one he was familiar with was Zhou Yuji. He had virtually no interaction with the other units. On top of that, because they had previously earned military merits, Liu Yuliang brought it up at every meeting to prod the others. The various units were already nursing grudges and had pegged Pang Yu as one of Liu Yuliang's clique. Now that everyone was rebelling against Liu Yuliang, of course they couldn't bring him along.

By dusk, intelligence from the friendly forces scouting the perimeter indicated that the soldiers from the various garrisons were returning one after another. Several general officers had also returned to camp. The situation had not continued to deteriorate.

The camp gradually quieted down. The defensive arrangements were largely complete. Only now did Pang Yu relax. When he stepped outside the tent, the lanterns of the central army had already been lit. Guards were using long bamboo poles to hang them on the tall racks. The fire soldiers of each unit were cooking; white cooking smoke drifted slowly through the encampment.

The soldiers around him looked somewhat excited when they saw Pang Yu. Pang Yu stretched his limbs. He knew these officers and men were somewhat bewildered by what had happened today. At a time like this, relying solely on those clerk officers wasn't enough. He sent a guard to notify Wu Dacai, preparing to inspect the camp together — to check the defenses and, at the same time, reassure the soldiers.

Before Wu Dacai arrived, however, someone came from the camp gate. After reporting to the duty advisor officer at the central army, the guard captain came over and said in a low voice, "Reporting, my lord: Sun Doutang has arrived. He is nearing the north camp gate and has sent a household retainer ahead to announce him."

Pang Yu hurriedly straightened his hat, designated Tu Dianli to command the central army in his stead, and then rushed toward the north gate. As he walked, he asked, "Who else besides Sun Doutang?"

"Also Regional Commander Cao of Lintao."

Pang Yu walked rather quickly, because he was unfamiliar with Sun Chuanting's style. When a superior officer was coming to the camp on short notice, he would normally send someone ahead to announce him, so the military unit could make preparations and also to avoid the awkwardness of being stopped at the camp gate by the soldiers below. Shi Kefa was in the habit of giving an hour's notice; Zhang Guowei only gave half a ke. Xiong Wencan basically never came to camp on short notice — he always notified them several days in advance.

Today was an exceptional situation. Pang Yu guessed that Sun Chuanting had also come in a hurry, so he could only go and wait early. Before he reached the gate, he already saw Sun Chuanting's column. This Supreme Commander hadn't even brought his recognition banner; behind him followed several dozen household retainers.

Sun Chuanting had come from the northeast. Upon reaching the Anqing camp boundary, he turned toward the north gate. This direction had no carriages serving as a camp wall — just javelins bound together with long spears laid horizontally across them. It served only to mark the boundary. If one ignored military law, one could easily enter from any position.

But Sun Chuanting did not put on airs or take a shortcut. He walked slowly along the northern camp boundary, scrutinizing the Anqing soldiers on alert inside the camp as he went. Cao Bianjiao behind him was also observing.

By now, the Anqing Heavy Armor Soldiers had basically finished donning their full gear. They were arrayed by banner teams behind the camp boundary, with small bronze cannons deployed in the gaps between them. Some carriages were being moved over from the east wall to cover the flanks of these banner teams.

Sun Chuanting stopped in front of the camp gate. Without waiting for a household retainer to lead his horse, he dismounted directly. Pang Yu arrived at the gate just in time. He observed Sun Chuanting's expression. The Supreme Commander waved his hand, stopping Pang Yu from performing the salute, and took the lead walking toward the camp gate. "General Pang, walk with me."

Pang Yu hurriedly fell in behind him, also taking a moment to exchange greetings with Cao Bianjiao.

Sun Chuanting said nothing along the way. He only stopped when he reached a squad of iron armor soldiers drawn up in formation, examining their armor and weapons. This squad all wore old-style scale armor. A few soldiers using single-handed weapons wore chain mail. Sun Chuanting stood beside one of the chain mail soldiers and carefully examined the iron rings.

Normally, Pang Yu did not have the iron armor soldiers wear their armor, to avoid arousing the envy of the other garrisons. So this was the first time they had all donned full armor. Because the situation was urgent, he could no longer concern himself with keeping a low profile.

That soldier, not understanding what was happening, stared nervously at the senior officers. Pang Yu gave him a gentle smile and said, "This is Sun Doutang, Governor-General of rally to the king, inspecting your equipment."

Sun Chuanting still did not speak. After finishing his inspection, he went to look at the scale armor soldiers nearby. Unlike in alley battles, these scale armor soldiers mostly used long spears, with short-handled axes or short blades at their waists. A small number still carried two-handed close-combat weapons like blade staffs and wolf tooth clubs.

When they passed a bronze cannon, Pang Yu thought Sun Chuanting would stop, but Sun Chuanting walked straight on. He continued all the way to the vicinity of the central army, where he went to look at Pang Yu's cavalry. Unlike civil officials such as Liu Yuliang, Sun Chuanting inspected all the banners and signals of a cavalry division in sequence; the equipment he only examined briefly.

By the time these tasks were done, the sky was completely dark. The guards around them had all lit lanterns. Sun Chuanting remained very silent, walking slowly through the encampment. Pang Yu did not know what he was thinking and did not disturb him.

By now, all the camps were serving the evening meal. Fire soldiers shuttled through the encampment, delivering food to the units on alert.

Sun Chuanting made his way to the east gate and stopped at the position of a squad of iron armor skirmishers. This group of skirmishers was just about to leave camp to keep watch on the road to the east. The squad leader was still giving a briefing. Seeing several senior officers approach, he was too frightened to speak.

Sun Chuanting said in a low voice, "The Anqing Battalion's ambush army — was it only deployed after nightfall?"

"Normally, they are deployed in advance at daybreak. Today, the defensive adjustments in the afternoon caused some delays, so they could only be deployed at night."

"Have ghost swords and caltrops already been laid on the roads?"

"In reply to Your Excellency: they have been laid near the walls on the southeast and south sides. On the northwest sides, they will still be laid later."

Sun Chuanting understood Pang Yu's meaning — he still had to guard against the friendly forces. He said flatly, "Better than nothing."

"It guards against gentlemen, not against petty men."

Sun Chuanting let out two hearty laughs. Seeing that his mood had improved, Pang Yu quickly leaned in and said, "It happens to be the evening meal hour in my camp. I venture to request Your Excellency to favor the army's food with your appraisal."

Sun Chuanting waved his hand. Pang Yu quickly had the waiting guards bring the food over. Several large bamboo baskets were uncovered, piled full of fried flatbread and steamed cakes. Sun Chuanting took the lead; Cao Bianjiao and the others each grabbed some and chewed vigorously.

Sun Chuanting walked over to a carriage and leaned against it. The guards also brought hot soup. Sun Chuanting set the hot soup down right on the carriage.

Pang Yu also stood beside him holding flatbread. Dipping it in the hot soup, he quickly finished it off. Sun Chuanting also ate very fast, almost indistinguishable from a common soldier. Once the flatbread was down, Sun Chuanting clapped his hands and drained the hot soup in one gulp.

Pang Yu hadn't eaten as fast as him. Now he was hurrying to catch up, his mouth stuffed full of flatbread, when Sun Chuanting suddenly spoke.

"When I first arrived in Shaanxi, I had not a single usable soldier at hand. I had no choice but to memorialize the Ministry of War and request two thousand Gan Army troops from Lord Hong. Who would have thought they were still unusable. Thus I learned that in military affairs, one cannot afford the slightest negligence, the slightest laziness. I disbanded the entire Governor's Standard and recruited anew. For the first Governor's Standard Battalion — one thousand five hundred and thirty-nine men, whether infantry or cavalry — I personally selected every single one. All armor, weapons, and soldier tags were personally issued by me."

The faint light of the camp lanterns outlined Sun Chuanting's profile. As he spoke, his chin and beard quivered up and down incessantly. Stream after stream of white breath emerged from his mouth and then dissipated into the air.

"Only thus did the Qin Army come to have five thousand usable troops. In my two years as Grand Coordinator of Shaanxi, it was precisely with these five thousand Qin troops that I captured Gao Yingxiang alive and destroyed fifteen camps of roving bandits, great and small."

Pang Yu listened somewhat entranced. Today's mutiny by the various border armies was mainly directed at Liu Yuliang. He did not know why Sun Chuanting had suddenly become so full of feeling, wanting to tell him these things.

Sun Chuanting had now been appointed the new Governor-General of Zhending and Baoding. He certainly could not return to Shaanxi. What he had just said sounded like a summary report of his tenure as Grand Coordinator of Shaanxi, and at the same time, like a complaint about the border armies.

With the flatbread still not swallowed, Pang Yu was momentarily unable to respond. Sun Chuanting was speaking with deep absorption, and Pang Yu could hardly make a disturbance by reaching for the soup, so he could only desperately gulp it down.

"From this, I also know the difficulty of governing an army." Sun Chuanting had not noticed Pang Yu's predicament and continued speaking in a clear voice. "When I saw the report of the Anqing Battalion's battle of Susong in the Court Gazette, I felt there must be some false reporting in it. When you reported over a hundred Jurchen Slave heads taken at Tongcheng Post, I reckoned there were probably about thirty real heads. Today, after looking at your camp — the chain mail, the hardest to maintain, has not a trace of rust on any of its links; the cavalry's banners, signals, and drums are in perfect order; every soldier's tag is complete. Whether a military unit is good or not — these things cannot deceive anyone. Only now do I believe that all the severed heads reported are genuine."

Pang Yu had just managed to swallow the flatbread in his mouth. He quickly said modestly, "I am overwhelmed with trepidation. On this northward march to rally to the king, the troops I lead are the elite of the entire battalion…"

Sun Chuanting cut him off. "General Pang, there is no need for modesty. The Anqing Battalion is a strong army under heaven. To provide your own rations and pay and march a thousand li to rally to the king — who is truly devoted to their duty, I have my own measure in my heart. The difficulty of governing an army — today's events also offer a glimpse of it."

"Your subordinate understands."

"Some of General Pang's ideas, if I were to speak from the heart, I agree with. But the situation right now is as you see it." Sun Chuanting had perhaps detected Pang Yu's perfunctory tone. After a moment of silence, he said, "This afternoon, I spoke in depth with every General Officer of Yang's Army. All the camps and garrisons of Yang's Army will still unite in purpose to meet the Jurchen Slaves in battle. As for certain minor details, the General need not take them to heart. Do not let such matters jeopardize the great cause of rallying to the king."

"Your subordinate absolutely will not." Pang Yu answered with his mouth, but he had no idea what those "minor details" were, nor which "ideas" Sun Chuanting was referring to. What Sun Chuanting meant, however, was to continue with the previously compromised battle plan, in order to give an account to the imperial court.

"When we engage the Eastern Invaders later, coordination will still be necessary. You should keep in close communication with Cao Regional Commander and Vice Regional Commander Zhou."

After saying this, Sun Chuanting walked straight toward the north gate. Pang Yu now roughly understood Sun Chuanting's meaning. The other Border Army troops had already lost their nerve and had no intention whatsoever of fighting the Qing army. Today, they had deliberately squeezed out the Anqing Battalion and the Capital Battalion. The only one in the Border Army who had not gone to stir up a mutiny was Cao Bianjiao. Pang Yu could only coordinate with him. That was why Sun Chuanting had brought Cao Bianjiao along when he came. It was clear that Sun Chuanting still held some expectation of attacking the Qing army.

At this thought, Pang Yu slowed his pace. Sure enough, Cao Bianjiao followed. He put on no airs at all. After wiping his mouth with his sleeve, he clapped Pang Yu on the shoulder. "Liu Yuliang didn't dare come out himself to face those General Officers. He sent an Advisor out to relay his words. Does General Pang know what that man said?"

Pang Yu had thought Cao Bianjiao would speak of coordination. He had not expected him to open with such a passage. Cautiously, he said, "I do not know."

"He said that attacking the Eastern Invaders was your idea, General Pang. He wanted Yang's Army to block the Shanghe route of the Tartars with full force, to prevent them from crossing the Grand Canal, to trap them once the rivers thawed, and then to converge all the various troops and mount a siege."

Pang Yu stopped dead in astonishment. But just from hearing this passage, he knew Cao Bianjiao was most likely not lying, because this was indeed what Pang Yu had told Liu Yuliang. It was already late in the first month. As long as they blocked that Qing army on the Shanghe route, all Qing forces would be thrown into a passive position.

Cao Bianjiao said indifferently, "In short, the meaning was that you goaded him into it, that you insisted on forcing Yang's Army into a decisive battle with the Tartars. Now, every garrison holds considerable resentment toward General Pang… outright cursing you to your face."

In his heart, Pang Yu cursed Liu Yuliang's entire family up and down. He had never imagined that the Chief Grand Secretary, whom he had thought most reliable, could sell out his own trusted man so easily — just to use him as a shield to deflect the Border Army's fury.

Pang Yu burned with rage. In the past, Shi Kefa and Zhang Guowei had not granted every request either, but at least they had never done anything like this — crossing the river and tearing down the bridge. What was worse, he had now offended virtually all of Yang's Army. That plan to block the Qing army was not even worth mentioning; it no longer held the slightest feasibility.

This bad news had come with no warning whatsoever. Pang Yu was utterly unprepared. He made perfunctory small talk with Cao Bianjiao while his mind raced through possible responses, all the way until they reached the north gate.

Sun Chuanting's figure had already arrived at the north gate ahead of them. He still exited through the camp gate. Outside, his Household Retainers had already prepared the horses. Sun Chuanting mounted his horse, then turned to see Pang Yu, still somewhat dazed, standing before the gate.

"General Pang, when I was first reinstated, I was at the Ministry of Personnel. It was originally the finest Destination in the court. But seeing the realm in turmoil, I requested to deal with the bandits myself. When I went to Shaanxi, I took only sixty thousand taels of Military Stipend Silver. After that, raising troops and raising funds, I had to manage everything on my own. Once I entered this life of warhorses and soldiery, its sweetness and bitterness I know myself — not enough to speak of to outsiders." Sun Chuanting sat high on his horse. The dim lanterns before the camp gate swayed, making his face flicker between light and shadow. He fixed his gaze on Pang Yu for a long moment. "And yet, in the dead of night, when I place my hand on my heart and ask myself — if we do not do these bitter, thankless tasks, then who can we trust to do them in our stead?"

With that, he wrenched his horse's head around, spurred it along the road by which he had come, and vanished into the vast, dark night.