Chapter 507: Contention

"Bai Guang'en, Deputy General of the Lintao Camp, greets Commander Pang. I have received the order from Regional Commander Cao and crossed the river to await your command."

On the morning of the tenth day of the second month, Pang Yu waited outside Huanghuadian. The Yongding River to his right had completely thawed, and broken ice drifted slowly across its surface. An unbroken column of marching infantry streamed in from the west along the south bank. The first to arrive was this Bai Guang'en.

Pang Yu glanced at Bai Guang'en. It was only after Wuqiao that Pang Yu's dealings with the Lintao Garrison had increased, and he had come to know a few of the general officers under Cao Bianjiao. Bai Guang'en had arrived together with Cao Bianjiao. Pang Yu knew only that the man was of Roving Bandit origin, but had surrendered many years ago. He had followed Cao Bianjiao on campaigns east and west, and his hands were stained with no small amount of blood from other Roving Bandit camp heads. One could say he had burned his bridges. Now he was still willing to follow and fight the Eastern Invaders, which made him far more reliable than feigned surrenders like the Eight Bandits.

This Bai Guang'en was tall and burly, his face covered in fierce flesh and marked with several scars. At a glance, he looked the part of a man who had spent years licking blood from his blade. In the past, when he met Pang Yu, he had always been dismissive and indifferent. But today, on the south bank of the Yongding River, he behaved quite meekly, even deliberately lowering his voice when he spoke.

Another general officer, He Renlong, had suffered a mutiny among his troops midway. He had managed to recover some men and horses and had only just rushed back before this battle. He stood behind Bai Guang'en without speaking. Cao Bianjiao was likely still on the north bank and would not be crossing the river.

Sun Chuanting had inspected the battle results the previous night and immediately rushed back to Wuqing. The various battalions that had fought likewise each used their own methods, doing everything they could to send word to the north bank. The infantry of each battalion that had remained in Wuqing received definite news and organized the foot soldiers to cross the river at dawn.

As long as they did not carry baggage or livestock, it was still easy for an army to cross a river without threat. The current in the newly thawed Yongding River was calm; finding a few boats to build a pontoon bridge would allow the infantry to cross.

The south bank here was littered with vast amounts of abandoned baggage, and there were twenty to thirty thousand head of livestock. After the rout, they were scattered all across the south bank. There had been no time at all yesterday to round them up. These infantry were enormous in number, perfect for collecting the spoils of war.

Pang Yu had also sent word to the north bank, ordering the remaining civilian laborers to cross the river as quickly as possible, and dispatched men to the south bank to assist with bridge-building. All the battalions were crossing via pontoon bridges upstream from Wuqing, to guard against a surprise attack by Qing cavalry.

He just hadn't expected the Lintao Garrison to arrive first. Bai Guang'en had brought over a thousand men, not a single one on horseback. But with a force this large, they probably hadn't come by boat; it must have been a rather flimsy pontoon bridge.

Bai Guang'en spoke politely, saying he had crossed the river to await orders. Pang Yu knew exactly what they had crossed the river for. He couldn't really send them to guard Wangzhuang. Cao Bianjiao had given his full support this time, and Pang Yu had to repay him somehow. Besides, this Bai Guang'en had addressed him as Commander Pang. It was the first time anyone had called him that. For that reason alone, he could not afford to shortchange Deputy General Bai.

Pang Yu suppressed the urge to stroke his own handsome cheek and said calmly to Bai Guang'en, "From Wangzhuang northward, up to Yangcun, is the ground of yesterday's bitter battle. There may still be remnants of the Eastern Invaders in several villages. I must trouble Deputy Commander Bai to lead troops and clear them out. I will dispatch an adjutant to assist."

Bai Guang'en heard the words "ground of bitter battle" and knew there would certainly be plenty of supplies. After receiving the order, he prepared to lead his foot soldiers east.

"Deputy Commander Bai."

Pang Yu called him back from behind. Bai Guang'en immediately and respectfully returned to Pang Yu's side.

"How many household retainers did Deputy Commander Bai bring across the river?"

"In reply to Commander Pang, each officer brought a total of one hundred and fifty household retainers."

Pang Yu turned to the adjutant attending him and said, "Take a command token and pass the order: invite Deputy Commander Bai to receive one hundred and fifty mounts outside Wangzhuang. Having horses to ride will make things more convenient."

Bai Guang'en was stunned for a moment, then realized these were captured warhorses. He had not expected Pang Yu to be so generous and hurriedly thanked him, "After I have used them, I will certainly return them to Your Excellency."

Pang Yu waved his hand magnanimously, and did not verbally refuse his offer to return them.

After Bai Guang'en had led his infantry far off, Pang Ding said in a low voice at his side, "My lord..."

Pang Yu raised a hand to stop Pang Ding. Truthfully, he also felt a slight pang of regret about this area. From Wangzhuang northward, the wilderness was covered in supplies. There were still many intact carriages on the roads, and the number of livestock was not small. However, the Anqing Battalion had already roughly swept through the valuable parts yesterday afternoon. What remained was fitting to leave for Cao Bianjiao's troops.

"My lord, what I meant was, giving the Lintao men such a large area, if Datong and Xuanfu both come, what will the young master have left to divide among them?"

"Those who didn't fight will need time to verify the news. By the time they arrive, it will be too late."

The clerk Tu Dianli, standing nearby, said, "The scout cavalry just reported back. They say two teams of Capital Battalion cavalry, carrying long bamboo poles, went upriver and poked apart the Cloud Garrison's pontoon bridge."

Pang Yu burst out laughing and turned his head to Tu Dianli. "The Cloud Garrison has too many men. We can't let them cross so quickly. Tell Chen Rulie to send two squads to help as well."

As Tu Dianli went to make the deployment, Pang Ding said in a low voice, "Young master, the Tartars are still on the north bank. Are we just going to ignore so many camp heads?"

Pang Yu tilted his head and replied, "The Tartars need today to reorganize their defeated troops, redistribute supplies, and deal with their dead and wounded. They can't move from Yangcun either."

"The Tartars lost a battle yesterday. Their morale must be flagging. Shouldn't we then pursue and strike while we have the upper hand?"

"The Tartars lost a battle yesterday and lost quite a bit of baggage and supplies, but their fighting strength was not heavily damaged. They were defeated by the weather, so their morale may not be flagging. On the contrary, they may be seething with rage, like a wounded, bleeding beast with nowhere to vent its fury. At a time like this, to pursue and attack when our own strength is insufficient is not a good idea." Pang Yu thought for a moment. "The best method is not pursuit. From Yangcun toward Xianghe, passing Hexiwu, there is a wooden bridge. One group of Tartars crossed the river there earlier. Now that the river has thawed, that is the Tartars' necessary route. As long as we can threaten that wooden bridge, the Tartars' right wing at Yangcun will collapse into chaos, and then the left wing will be left east of the river, in constant fear."

Pang Ding's eyes lit up as he listened. "Then did the young master suggest this to Sun Doutang?"

After a moment, Pang Yu smiled. "Sun Doutang has long known about that bridge, and knows the Tartars will pass that way. But the Tartars will certainly deploy heavy troops to guard it. For us to attack that bridge, we would have to gather all the elite forces under Chen Doutang, Sun Doutang, and Supervisor-in-Chief Gao. You've been fighting alongside us for a long time now; you know that's impossible. Right now, our own Anqing Battalion is too exhausted to fight, let alone expecting anything from the others."

"Then is Sun Doutang preparing to give that Liu Guangzuo..."

Pang Yu shook his head. Sun Chuanting had shown hesitation on this matter. It seemed he was not prepared to fight the Chief Grand Secretary of the Cabinet to the death.

At this moment, a broken stream of infantry appeared from the west. The Provincial Commander's Standard Troops and the Capital Battalion each went to meet them.

Next, the lookout reported that a Qing cavalry unit of the Plain Yellow Banner had appeared on the north bank at Huanghuadian. Pang Yu immediately rushed to the riverbank. The two sides gazed at each other across the river.

Pang Yu had not deployed any cannons at Huanghuadian, so there was nothing to threaten the Qing troops on the opposite bank. But he was not afraid of the Qing troops either, and stood there openly and boldly on the bank.

That Qing unit had about five hundred riders. They showed no sign of flagging morale. The leading general officer drew close to the riverbank, swept a brief glance over Pang Yu and his men, then turned to observe the other areas on the south bank. He looked very carefully, then led his cavalry upstream.

Tu Dianli immediately dispatched relay horses to race upstream. They didn't know whose pontoon bridge was nearest. If any infantry had not yet crossed the river, they would be in trouble if they ran into the Qing troops.

The Qing troops did not follow the river for long. Within sight, they turned back north onto the official road and headed straight for the Wuqing county seat. Not long after, another Qing unit appeared, roughly two thousand riders, a mix of bright armor and dark armor, with the banners of every banner present.

The thunder of hooves rumbled on the official road, the column stretching for several li. These two cavalry units advanced with murderous intent, their target clearly Wuqing. Pang Yu and Tu Dianli looked at each other in dismay. They had not expected the Qing troops to seek revenge so quickly. There were many troops inside Wuqing city. These cavalrymen had no siege equipment, so they couldn't take the city by assault. But the camps outside the city had no strong defenses and would likely be very hard to defend.

Wuqing County was fifty li from the battlefield and served as the Ming Army's forward base. For the Qing troops to attack here, they would need to travel a hundred li round trip, which would exhaust both men and horses. If they were tied down by the Ming Army, they might not be able to return to camp by nightfall. In this unfamiliar territory, the number of men lost to scattering in the darkness would exceed the losses in battle. Under normal circumstances, the Qing troops would not take this risk, so this distance was enough to guarantee safety. But today, the Qing troops were clearly burning with rage. It seemed the Ming Army's main cavalry force was all on the south bank, likewise blocked by the Yongding River. To cross, they could only go on foot; the cavalry could not get across.

During the past two days of fighting, the Qing troops must have already sent scouts to ascertain the deployment at Wuqing County. Now they were going for revenge, and they clearly had no fear of the Ming Army on the south bank attacking Yangcun again. The scale of this maneuver far exceeded Pang Yu's expectations.

A Qing force of about two hundred men was left near Ci Prefecture, half Western Invaders and half Eastern Invaders. They spread out along the river channel, keeping a close watch on the activity on the south bank.

The Ming infantry on the south bank were still rushing forward, marching in a different direction from the Qing cavalry on the north bank. They passed each other across the river channel, as if completely unrelated.

Pang Yu shook his head, driving away this absurd image. He brooded for a moment, then said, "Send men to find boats. Build a bridge nearby."

Tu Dianli hesitated briefly and said, "My lord, the Tartars on the opposite bank are keeping watch."

"It's fine even if it's just for show. Drag a few cannons over to provide cover. Make the show look convincing. And here we were talking about pursuing the Tartars—they're the ones coming to kill us first." Pang Yu tugged at his collar. He could think of no other solution now. Even sending a message couldn't outrun the Qing troops, because the detour from the south bank was much longer than the official road.

"We'll pin down as many as we can..." Before Pang Yu could finish speaking, another unit of over a thousand cavalry on the opposite bank rushed toward Wuqing.

"Young master, four thousand Tartars are heading for Wuqing."

Pang Ding's voice trembled slightly. The Qing troops had dispatched four thousand cavalry in one move. Even after a defeat, they still displayed formidable mobility and combat power, and still firmly held the initiative on the battlefield. The Qing troops' objective today was to smash the Ming Army on the north bank, ideally to break through Wuqing, dismantle the Ming Army's forward base, and create conditions for a subsequent withdrawal.

"My lord, Liao Garrison infantry have appeared directly to the west, about three thousand men, with another four to five thousand following behind."

Pang Yu raised his telescope and looked west. Several thousand infantry in tattered clothes appeared on the open wilderness. These men pushed carriages in groups, swarming toward yesterday's battlefield under the leadership of their officers. They were much like the infantry of the other garrisons; rather than soldiers, they looked more like refugees.

These Liao Garrison infantry had left Dong'an the previous night, but their night march had been ineffective, and they had been harassed by cavalry from some unknown garrison, so they had to wait until daylight to hurry over.

"Which battalion of the Liao Garrison is this?"

"In reply to Your Excellency, it is a battalion led by Wu Xiang, several thousand men, all foot soldiers. The Liao Garrison sent him as reinforcements just for show. Following behind are the troops of Tianjin Regional Commander Liu Furong, roughly two thousand foot soldiers." (Note 1: According to Sun Chuanting's records, all the troops Wu Xiang brought into the capital region were infantry, and basically unusable.)

Pang Yu nodded. "No wonder Sun Doutang handed him over to Supervisor-in-Chief Gao so readily."

Over a hundred cavalrymen of the Shaanxi Provincial Commander's Standard Troops formed up south of Huanghuadian, splitting into several groups spread across the area. They charged at the approaching infantry, not stopping until they were twenty or thirty paces away. The infantry immediately panicked, halting on the road, some scattering in all directions.

The Shaanxi Provincial Commander's Standard Troops cavalry circled around the infantry, scattering caltrops everywhere on the ground. The disorderly Liao Garrison soldiers cried out in alarm repeatedly.

The Liao Garrison officers leading them shouted and cursed, berating the Shaanxi cavalry while ordering their infantry to disperse. They had already seen the endless supplies and livestock covering the wilderness ahead.

Several thousand Liao Garrison foot soldiers spread out, clutching all manner of sacks and baskets, shouting as they surged westward — the South Bank was in complete chaos.

Pang Yu turned his head to look at the North Bank. The tail of the Qing cavalry column was already about to vanish along the Official Road. He turned back to look at the South Bank again. The men from the various garrisons had already mingled with the Liao Garrison. Foot soldiers chased and scrambled over the open fields, grappling and brawling with one another. Some Liao Garrison foot soldiers had rushed to the outskirts of various villages, preparing to directly seize the collected spoils of war. The clashes were growing steadily more intense, and in the distance, fresh Liao Garrison troops had also appeared.

By now, Pang Yu could not even manage to concentrate the cavalry of the All Camps. Beside him, Pang Ding started to speak several times, only to stop himself. After a long while, he let out a deep sigh.