Chapter 121: Laiyang

On the twenty-third day of the tenth month of the second year of the Chongzhen reign, Chen Xin stood by the Qingshui River in Laiyang. Small chunks of floating ice drifted in the river, and the little bridge spanning it was extremely narrow. This spot was just over twenty li from the Laiyang county seat. Behind him stretched a long marching column, each unit spaced a hundred paces apart. The very front, the First Company of the First Regiment, was preparing to cross the river. The cavalry unit's scout riders were already five li ahead. The relay horses had sent back no word of enemy activity, yet the Wendeng Battalion still carried out every step strictly according to combat regulations.

Over twenty jialiang cavalry had already crossed the river first. After crossing the bridge, they dispersed toward the nearby hills.

Chen Xin watched the cavalry's receding backs. His mood was surprisingly calm; he felt not the slightest fear of battle, because the enemy was simply too weak.

Nie Hong and the others had filed a complaint at the Laiyang county office ten days earlier. Immediately after, Zhao Xuan informed Yu Dacheng that the authorities already knew about their affairs. Yu Dacheng, the Grand Shopkeeper of the Laiyang Wenxiang Sect, had no choice but to launch his uprising ahead of schedule. He quickly coerced over five thousand sect followers. This motley mob mostly carried hoes and carrying poles. A minority, the Wenxiang Sect's core members, possessed weapons — no more than five hundred men. These individuals had all participated in the Wenxiang Sect rebellion during the Tianqi era and had some combat capability, but their equipment was only on par with bandits. Their level of organization was very poor, and their preparations were insufficient. After rising up, they plundered wealthy households near Yaoshan.

Yu Dacheng planned to stockpile grain before attacking the Laiyang county seat. Xu Tang of Zhaoyuan, implicated by Yu Dacheng, also had no choice but to rise up immediately, but his force numbered only a little over two thousand. Laiyang County had a total of just over fifty government office runners from the three shifts. Although the county magistrate was panicked, he was still somewhat capable. He immediately sent an urgent appeal to the Deng-Lai Coastal Defense Circuit, while simultaneously sealing all four city gates, purging the city of spies, and conscripting village braves and sturdy civilians to defend the walls. Yet facing over five thousand rebels, the situation remained extremely precarious.

Wang Tingshi was now the Deng-Lai Circuit Intendant of the Shandong Provincial Administration Commission, concurrently holding the Coastal Defense Circuit post. Upon hearing of unrest within his jurisdiction, he too feared another major incident like the one caused by Xu Hongru. If Laiyang or Zhaoyuan were to fall, his career would likely be finished. He immediately ordered the various guard battalions and Dengzhou Regional Commander Zhang Keda to dispatch troops as quickly as possible. Wendeng's three guards and one battalion were also among those mobilized.

All officers and soldiers of the Wendeng Battalion had already quietly assembled at the border between Wendeng and Laiyang. This force also included some temporarily conscripted laborers and grooms. Chen Xin left only a portion of his cavalry in the camp area to await orders from Dengzhou. On the seventeenth day of the tenth month, the troop mobilization order from Dengzhou arrived, activating wartime protocols. All conscripted troops were placed under the unified command of Dengzhou Regional Commander Zhang Keda. The orders given to the Wendeng Battalion were to first strictly guard the border, prevent the rebels from spreading into Wendeng, and then, once the main Dengzhou army arrived, join forces to strike the rebels. Over a thousand men from the Dengzhou Main Battalion would enter Laiyang from Qixia. The former Provincial Governor's Personal Battalion, now reduced to a few hundred men, would be dispatched to Zhaoyuan to suppress Xu Tang.

As soon as Zhou Hongmo heard they were going to war, he was somewhat at a loss. He had earned some silver this year, and his household retainers had grown to thirty men. But the bulk of his funds still had to be reserved for gifts and business. He had originally assumed the surrounding area was peaceful and that thirty retainers were enough to handle small bands of rebels. Now, with several thousand of them, he had no choice but to come find Chen Xin.

Chen Xin set out immediately, but he invited Zhou Hongmo to come along under the pretext of earning military merit. Zhou Hongmo had great confidence in the combat effectiveness of Chen Xin's troops and followed along with twenty of his retainers.

The Wendeng Battalion's scout riders fanned out in all directions. Combined with the intelligence sent back by Zhao Xuan, they confirmed that Yu Dacheng had already moved toward the Laiyang county seat. The two men disregarded Zhang Keda's orders and directly entered Laiyang County territory. Crossing Zhaohu Mountain and the Changshui River, after a five-day march they arrived at the Qingshui River. They could engage the rebel army tomorrow. Meanwhile, the Dengzhou Main Battalion had only just set out from Dengzhou.

Yu Dacheng did not arrive at the county seat until the nineteenth, dragging his feet. He even tried to demand their surrender beforehand, but the county magistrate drove away his envoy. Then they prepared to assault the city. They spent two days cutting trees to build ladders and began their attack on the twenty-second. This motley mob was beaten back by a barrage of stones from the city walls. The civilians defending the city gained confidence and grew even more resolute.

By now, the cavalry that had crossed the river had ascended the ridge lines one after another, unfurling small green square flags. According to the Wendeng Battalion's marching regulations, whenever encountering dangerous obstacles, rivers, valley mouths, or areas of high mountains and dense forests, a killer squad or jialiang cavalry must be dispatched to search. When the Qi army conducted pursuit operations in the south, they even left men to check rice paddies. The scenario of a cannon blast signaling an ambush by several thousand hidden troops was essentially impossible to happen to the Qi army.

Liu Po stood beside Chen Xin. He swept his gaze across the hilltops, counted the flags, and said to Chen Xin, "My lord, all jialiang cavalry are in position. No enemy traces nearby. Should the infantry units begin crossing the river? I await your instructions."

"Begin crossing the river."

"Yes, my lord."

Liu Po signaled to the flag bearer beside him. The central army's blue flag dipped once toward the First Regiment's regimental commander flag, then tilted in the direction of the river crossing. The First Regiment's regimental commander blue flag dipped once in acknowledgment, then immediately began issuing orders to the company commander flags. Moments later, the First Company's infantry drum sounded. The First Killer Flag Squad crossed the river first. After the firearms flag squad advanced a certain distance, the First Company deployed into Mandarin Duck Formation.

The follow-up units of the First Regiment also began crossing the river in a steady stream. Each company deployed as soon as it crossed. After all six hundred-plus men of the First Regiment had crossed the bridge, they fully deployed on the opposite bank. Next came the Second Regiment and the central army. After the central army came the baggage train and the detached units. Last was the Third Regiment.

After the central army crossed the river, two relay riders galloped up from the front. They handed over their intelligence to Liu Po. After Chen Xin reviewed it, he dispatched central army relay riders to summon each commanding officer to the central army.

The three regimental commanders and Zhu Guobin all quickly arrived at the central army banner. These commanding officers all had horses, making coming and going convenient. Chen Xin beckoned them over. Liu Po took out a map, and the few men gathered around it.

Liu Po pointed at the map and said, "My lords, once past the Qingshui River, there are no major mountains or rivers ahead. The scout cavalry has reached Xingezhuang and discovered a few demon men engaged in looting. As per the original plan, they did not advance further. According to the Wenxiang Sect intelligence received yesterday, they are encamped northeast of Laiyang city. We estimate we will engage them in battle tomorrow."

Lu Chuanzong said, "Then shall we camp at Xingezhuang according to the original plan?"

Zhu Guobin disagreed somewhat. "Xingezhuang is too close, and scattered demon men have already been spotted. Better to camp nearby here. We'll march twenty li tomorrow and can engage in battle by the afternoon."

Dai Zhenggang said bluntly, "Why not make a forced march today and launch a night raid on their camp? Liu Po, is their camp sturdy?"

"The intelligence didn't say, but it's likely nothing sturdy — just some shacks."

None of them harbored the slightest doubt about routing the demon men. Chen Xin felt the same, but he did not intend to use a raid. They were about to face the Jianzhou Bandits, who were a hundred times fiercer than these demon men. These demon men provided an extremely rare opportunity for practice. He still preferred to engage them in formal battle formation.

"We will camp here today. Tomorrow we will march straight to the city walls. Yu Dacheng won't be able to run then."

The four men cupped their fists in acknowledgment simultaneously. Liu Po said, "Please designate the central army's position, my lord."

Chen Xin looked ahead. About one li away, the ground was relatively level. He said, "The central army flag will advance one li and establish camp. Liu Po, take personal guards and issue marker flags to each unit. All regiments and detached units will establish camp according to the marker flags. The cavalry jialiang horses will be withdrawn once the camp is secured."

The four commanding officers stood at attention and saluted, then mounted their horses and hurried back to their units. Chen Xin's central army advanced slowly. After traveling about one li, they planted the central army flag. Liu Po, taking two personal guards, measured out the positions and issued marker flags to each unit, roughly forming a triangular encampment. After they returned to the central army and reported, four personal guards each took a banjiu foot gun, fired one shot unloaded in each of the four directions, and the central army bugler sounded the horn once to deploy the troops.

As soon as the horn sounded, each unit moved to its designated marker position and began setting up camp. The previously quiet column began to emit a somewhat chaotic clamor. The shouts of officers rang out everywhere. The baggage train's large carts were distributed to each unit. From them, they took down many five-chi-long javelins. Tied in bundles of three, they formed simple chevaux-de-frise. Each squad tied six bundles and drove the iron tips deep into the ground. Then each platoon dispatched a flag squad to cut timber nearby. Once brought back, the tree trunks were laid horizontally across the chevaux-de-frise. This formed the wall of their field camp.

Then the long-shield bearers of each killer squad removed strings of iron caltrops from the front of their long shields and laid them outside the camp wall. These iron caltrops had four iron spikes. Every six formed a string, each string one pace long, with iron heads at both ends for gripping. They were very quick to deploy and retrieve. Overall, their method of setting camp was still quite simple: killers on the outside, firearms and baggage on the inside. They did not dig trenches or erect sturdy wooden walls.

Once all units had finished setting camp, Chen Xin dispatched flag-and-tablet guards to stand by at the three perimeter gates. Once the personal guards were in position, the central army sounded a drum roll. The fire cooks of each squad went in succession to the camp gates to line up. After the flag-and-tablet personal guards counted them off, they headed out nearby to cut firewood and fetch water. After the personal guards finished the count, they still waited at the gates. Chen Xin glanced at Zhu Guobin's cavalry unit. Because many had been sent out, only about fifty riders remained now, already waiting at the eastern camp gate. Liu Po chuckled, "These horses are all starving."

Chen Xin smiled and waved his hand. The central army raised the green flag and the black flag. The cavalry's designated flag color was green; black represented water, indicating that the cavalry could leave camp to water and graze their horses. The cavalry also counted off at the camp gate, then filed out in order to water and graze. After they returned, the personal guards from the three gates returned to Chen Xin's central army banner to hand in their tallies. After cross-checking, there were no omissions.

Immediately after, two personal guards went out the gate, carrying gongs. They walked along the camp wall, beating the gongs as they made one full circuit. The armored soldiers took off their armor one after another, and the fire cooks began setting up pots and lighting fires.

The central army's bugle-horn personal guard then blew the suona. The commanding officers of each camp, the detached unit commanders, the quartermaster, the chief military judge, and the chief indoctrination officer all proceeded to the central army tent to receive orders. Chen Xin's central army tent was also very crude, not the magnificent type, just somewhat larger than an ordinary tent. When everyone entered, it was a bit cramped. The suona outside the tent continued to blow until all the officers had assembled, then stopped.

Chen Xin sat high in the seat of honor and issued the first command arrow. "Infantry First Regiment Commander Lu Chuanzong, the Infantry First Regiment will dispatch eighty men for outpost duty, twenty men per side."

Lu Chuanzong acknowledged loudly and stepped forward to receive it.

"Cavalry Unit Commander Zhu Guobin, the cavalry unit will dispatch five night scouts for long-range reconnaissance on each side."

Zhu Guobin also stepped forward and received the command arrow.

Chen Xin continued to the assembled officers, "Tonight's watchword is 'Laiyang Exterminates Demons.' During the night, each platoon will keep one killer flag squad armored. At all camp gates and along the camp wall, no one is permitted to enter or exit without a command tablet. Violators will be beheaded immediately. Those with urgent business needing to leave will come to the central army to receive a command tablet. The central army night duty officer is Liu Po. During the night, anyone who approaches within ten paces of the camp wall and fails to heed a challenge will be shot with arrows. Those with strange behavior or robust physiques may be shot dead with firearms. In the event of a night raid, each camp will hold its assigned ground. No shouting or chaotic movement is permitted. All other matters will be carried out according to regulations. The central army will distribute the latest intelligence before nightfall. Tomorrow, all flag squads will complete briefings before the meal. Cooking will begin at the start of the Mao hour, and we will march at the Chen hour. In tomorrow's battle, take no prisoners. During combat, you must strictly follow the central army's flag, drum, and horn commands. Striking down the demon men, protecting the region, and bringing peace to the people — this is precisely the duty of us soldiers. Let us all encourage one another."

"Yes, my lord!"