Chapter 91: Deserter

Guang Shiheng's figure grew distant on the official road until, certain he could no longer make them out clearly, Yang Erming turned and headed back into the city. He did not even take his official sedan chair, letting the bearers trail behind with it. The whole way he seemed deeply preoccupied and did not speak with the other officials.

Before they parted, Guang Shiheng had repeatedly stressed two things to Yang Erming: first, do not associate with Ruan Dacheng; second, strictly guard against the roving bandits. The second point had likely placed considerable pressure on Yang Erming's mind.

A fourteen-year-old boy, now responsible for the lives and property of an entire county's people. Pang Yu could raise problems and hand them to him, but this middle-schooler had no room to pass them on.

From the information Guang Shiheng revealed, if the roving bandits took a city, they might not necessarily slaughter everyone in it, but the county magistrate would certainly not survive. Even if the bandits did not kill him, the imperial court would not spare a magistrate who lost his city. So Yang Erming's pressure was in truth far greater than Pang Yu's.

No one spoke the entire way. When they reached the gate arch of South Fumigate Gate, they spotted a thick column of smoke to the east. Everyone stopped, murmuring among themselves, no one knowing where the fire was.

Yang Erming halted to gauge the direction, then sought out Pang Yu behind him and asked, "Is the Zhuang Squad drilling city defense tactics on the south city wall?"

Pang Yu, feeling somewhat guilty, hastily replied, "Right between South Fumigate Gate and Xiangyang Gate. The houses here aren't as dense as on Zilai Street, and it's behind Zhidu Nunnery, so it won't disturb the residents much."

Yang Erming nodded. "Then I shall go with you to have a look."

With that, he dismissed the other officials back to the office, preparing to take only his advisor and two dihou attendants with Pang Yu.

As they walked, Pang Yu asked, "Would Your Honor prefer to observe from atop the wall, or from below it?"

Yang Erming paused, puzzled. "What difference is there between the two?"

"If roving bandits assault a city, they come from outside. Viewing from below the wall lets one guess what methods they might use, from the bandits' perspective. Viewing from atop the wall is our defensive perspective — seeing how to prevent the bandits from taking the city."

Advisor Sun exchanged a few quiet words with Yang Erming, after which Yang Erming said to Pang Yu, "Then we shall first observe from below the wall."

The group headed east along the wall and soon arrived before Zhidu Nunnery. The nunnery's outer wall stood some distance from the city wall, leaving enough space for the Zhuang Squad to drill assault tactics.

By now, quite a crowd had gathered in front of Zhidu Nunnery, pointing and gesturing at the city wall. Following their gazes, Yang Erming saw that the thick smoke was coming from there.

Pang Yu had no idea why this was happening. Faced with Yang Erming's questioning look, he could only stall, saying, "Perhaps they are drilling fire attack today."

Yang Erming was skeptical. The group circled around Zhidu Nunnery to the base of the wall, where they saw a large fire blazing, thick smoke billowing upward. Seven or eight men were hauling firewood and brush from all around to heap onto the flames. Above, the smoke hung so dense that the top of the wall was completely obscured. Several other men were lifting a bamboo ladder, preparing to set it against the battlements.

Pang Yu recognized them at once — it was Wang Zenglu's Second Squad. He hurried over, pulled Wang Zenglu aside, and demanded, "What is the meaning of this fire?"

Wang Zenglu's face was smeared with black ash. Seeing Pang Yu, he wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "Sir, you told us to think of ourselves as the roving bandits, that any method to take the city was allowed. So we thought of fire attack."

Pang Yu's own forehead was beginning to sweat, but he had indeed said those words. He quickly lowered his voice and snapped, "This fire of yours has drawn everyone around to watch — they think there's a real fire here. How are people supposed to go about their livelihoods in peace?"

As Pang Yu spoke, he shot him a meaningful look. Wang Zenglu caught sight of the county magistrate behind him out of the corner of his eye and stammered, "Th-then... this subordinate will put out the fire at once."

Yang Erming's voice rang out. "You there, explain why you set this fire."

Wang Zenglu stood frozen, unable to speak. Pang Yu turned to face Yang Erming and said, "This humble officer arranged for them to practice fire attack. Lighting a fire at the base of the wall, mixing dry and wet grass, and adding some animal dung produces acrid, dense smoke. The defenders atop the wall lose their line of sight and cannot easily lean out to observe, making the assault far easier."

Yang Erming's face paled. "Then how does one counter this tactic?"

Pang Yu's mind raced. Improvising on the spot, he said, "Cover the nose with a damp cloth and hold the wall steady. Then throw explosive thunder bombs in dense volleys at the fire point. That can both extinguish the fire and prevent the bandits from digging at the wall. But the explosive thunder cannot be drilled — it would cost lives."

"Also, remember to hurl heavy objects. You must stockpile plenty of stones atop the wall — not small stones, they must be heavy." Yang Erming looked at Pang Yu with grave seriousness. "Never let your heart soften. This city wall is what the lives of countless common people depend on. The roving bandits must never be allowed to breach it."

"This subordinate will remember. Please set your mind at ease, Your Honor. It is only that the Zhuang Squad is newly formed and our equipment is somewhat crude. This humble officer has visited every forge in Tongcheng, and not one man knows how to make armor and gear. If we could obtain some armor, the Zhuang Squad would be far more confident in defending the city. Might Your Honor be able to request assistance from Anqing Prefecture in locating some?"

Advisor Sun, not waiting for Yang Erming to speak, cut in first. "Squad Leader Pang, the matter of armor absolutely must not be raised with Anqing Prefecture. Armor is a tool of the army and the state. The court has never permitted private individuals to manufacture it without authorization. Even if someone in Anqing Prefecture could make it, the prefectural office would never send anyone here."

Pang Yu turned to Advisor Sun. "But defending a city in battle comes down to nothing more than sturdy armor and sharp weapons. Especially since we are only guarding the city wall — our soldiers do not need to march long distances, so they can properly don heavy armor and wield keen blades. With a full set of gear, their courage will emerge. The roving bandits are the opposite. They come from afar, and to evade pursuit by government troops, they prize agility and speed. Heavy armor cannot be plentiful among them. This subordinate believes that whether atop the city wall or in the streets and alleys, we should meet lightness with heaviness. If the city's defenses are to be solid, armor is indispensable. The court forbids private manufacture of armor, but the court also permits every locality to hold its cities firmly. Armor is the natural corollary of that."

Advisor Sun had not expected Pang Yu to produce such an argument. For a moment, he could think of no rebuttal. Pang Yu had lately been pondering many approaches. From the scattered intelligence, it seemed his hypothetical enemy, the roving bandits, would be primarily light troops.

Judging by Tongcheng's current needs, the main task was defending the county seat. Heavy infantry was naturally more targeted and would give Pang Yu greater peace of mind. The sole difficulty was this armor. Cost was secondary; the main problem was that not a single forge in Tongcheng knew how to make it.

This was not a problem that could be solved by sketching a rough diagram. If he could not obtain technical support from outside, Pang Yu would have to place orders at high prices and let the forges figure out the research on their own. But that approach would likely take considerable time, and quality would still be hard to guarantee.

Yang Erming's brow furrowed tightly. He knew little about armor himself. The Ming dynasty's national defense focused on the north, and military investment was concentrated on the northern frontier. The south lacked demand in this area, and also lacked investment, so market resources were never allocated toward military equipment. The forges mainly produced farming tools, cooking vessels, and other daily necessities; they knew nothing of military gear.

Yang Erming hesitated, several times seeming about to speak, then stopping. Advisor Sun kept shooting him warning looks.

"This matter I shall consider further," Yang Erming finally said. "Regarding defense against the bandits, what other difficulties does Squad Leader Pang face?"

From Yang Erming's tone, Pang Yu gathered that the armor matter was likely going nowhere — he would have to rely on himself. By now, Wang Zenglu and the others had extinguished the fire. Ash swirled in the air around them. Pang Yu quickly invited Yang Erming to withdraw outside the main gate of Zhidu Nunnery.

"There is indeed one more matter. The Zhuang Squad runners mostly come from villages. If we want them to be determined to defend the city, we must evacuate their family dependents into the city before the roving bandits arrive..."

"This is something I can decide on my own authority. Bring them into the city without hesitation. If there is not enough lodging, they may even stay in my rear hall." Yang Erming gazed at the dense smoke, his expression heavy. "Squad Leader Pang, you must devote every effort to forging the Zhuang Squad and the Fast Squad into the pillars of Tongcheng."

"Aside from what I just covered, there is one more part of the Fast Squad's contingency plan that needs revising." Pang Yu sat in the gatehouse of the Ye Family Old Residence, facing Jiang Fan, Ruan Jin, He Xianya, and the other Fast Squad headmen. "Horses must be stationed along the entire length of the official road. To the southwest, deploy them as far as the Qianshan county seat. To the southeast, deploy them as far as Luzhou Prefecture. The moment there is any word of the roving bandits, they must report back at top speed. Only then will we have time to prepare — time for the commoners along the official road to evacuate, and time for the Zhuang Squad's family dependents to enter the city. The moment an alert is raised, the Fast Squad must strictly inspect the city gates and the entire city, especially out-of-town craftsmen, corvée laborers, and wandering monks and Daoists. In short, anyone without a local accent — arrest them first and ask questions later."

Jiang Fan hurriedly lowered his head to memorize in silence. Pang Yu had to stop and wait for them. Jiang Fan, Ruan Jin, and the others could barely write more than a few characters; they could not take notes during meetings. Even if Pang Yu wrote things down, they could not read it, so it was useless. Pang Yu felt that if their scale grew even slightly larger, he would have to assign a scribe to each of these squad leaders.

Once Jiang Fan and Ruan Jin had finished committing it to memory, Pang Yu looked up and asked, "Is there anything else today?"

He Xianya bowed and said, "Squad Leader, our new gambling house is fully furnished. It opens for business today. Liu Shopkeeper asks if you would like to pay a visit."

Pang Yu's new gambling den was on South Street. He Xianya had last time been given the post of Deputy Squad Leader of the South City Squad, and he was now the main liaison with Liu Ruogu. The new gambling den was not far from the Ye Family Old Residence either.

A surge of excitement rose in Pang Yu as he stood up. "Of course I'm going. A gambling den improved by this squad leader himself — I must at least play a few rounds first. There are exactly four of us here. Let's all go together. I'll teach you how to play the penghe tiles I modified."

The Fast Squad men, all from marketplace backgrounds, had a considerable interest in gambling. Penghe tiles were the precursor to later-era ma, and were currently growing popular in the late Ming. Hearing this, they grew somewhat excited and eagerly followed Pang Yu out the door.

They had just rounded the spirit screen when they saw quite a crowd gathered on the street. Pang Yu's heart jolted. Not knowing what had happened now, he quickly steadied himself and looked closely.

A figure in tattered clothes was striding toward the main gate, a person bound hand and foot slung over his shoulder. Seven or eight commoners, weeping and wailing, trailed behind — men and women, young and old alike.

The figure strode up to Pang Yu and, with a thud, flung the person from his shoulder to the ground. The man standing there was covered in dust, his face utterly haggard, yet his eyes held a firm resolve. He glanced at the several Fast Squad leaders behind, then addressed the stunned Pang Yu in a loud voice: "Reporting to the Squad Leader — Yao Dongshan has captured that deserter and brought him back for you!"