Chapter 131: Provocation

The Later Jin scout rider slowly urged his horse closer. Behind him, more mounted figures gradually appeared. They halted two hundred paces away and advanced no further. Some fifty-odd riders spread out around the Wendeng Battalion's position, almost as if they had surrounded the two-thousand-strong Wendeng Battalion.

In front of the Wendeng Battalion's breastwork, two squads of Night Scouts still remained — twenty-two men in all. These elite soldiers, handpicked from the entire army, were full of nerve and stood their ground against the growing number of enemy scout riders.

Hai Gouzi brought over the red embroidered tunic. Chen Xin raised his arms and let Hai Gouzi tie it onto his shoulders. Hai Gouzi then checked his foot guards, neck guard, and the buckle strap once more before saying to Chen Xin, "My lord, let me put on your iron arm-guards first. I'll gear up myself right after."

Chen Xin nodded. Hai Gouzi fitted the iron arm-guards onto him. After his hands came through, Chen Xin flexed slightly and adjusted the fit. This suit of mountain-pattern armor weighed over thirty jin and was exquisitely made. The armor plates vaguely resembled the emblem of a Mercedes-Benz — densely interlocked, lighter and more flexible than ordinary iron scale armor, yet offering better protection. Apart from the armor plates covering his torso, there was a round heart-protecting mirror on his chest, a copper leopard-head belly guard at his abdomen, shoulder guards, foot guards, and iron arm-guards on his hands. He was a gleaming iron man from head to toe.

Chen Xin touched the modified Qi-family saber hanging from his belt and silently prayed he would not have to use it. Just as he was thinking this, Hai Gouzi thrust a dagger into the sheath slot on his belt. Chen Xin rolled his eyes — if it ever came to him using a dagger, it would already be over.

"Gouzi, is that thing ready?"

"Ready. Hidden under the cart — one hundred jin of gunpowder. I've already rigged the fuse."

Chen Xin tied the straps of his helmet — the mountain-pattern armor helmet — himself, while speaking to him in a low voice: "If we really are defeated, don't let the Tatars take me alive. If I can't move, you help me set off the gunpowder. I'd rather die than become a Tatar's slave — though it means you won't survive either."

Hai Gouzi gave a simple grin and said, "Brother Chen, I'm with you no matter what."

Chen Xin looked at Hai Gouzi, somewhat moved. He was a grown man now, yet still so simple-minded — fearing nothing, chasing nothing. But that was a happy way to be. Chen Xin had always pushed Hai Gouzi to learn to read and write, but now he suddenly felt that letting him live out his life as a carefree personal guard might be better for him after all.

Chen Xin's own farewell letter had already been left in Tianjin. Without him, that little bit of property in Weihai would sooner or later become morsels in the mouths of various lords — and might even cost Liu Minyou his life. So if he fell in battle, he hoped Liu Minyou would do as he had originally intended: go to Taiwan, or take those people to some small island and live out his life in freedom.

After Hai Gouzi finished dressing Chen Xin, he stepped down from the platform to put on his own iron arm-guards. Chen Xin began to slowly survey his position.

On the left and right flanks of his encampment, the First and Third Company Headquarters had each deployed one platoon extending outward. The frontage on both flanks was very narrow, and they would also come under flanking fire from the city walls. Although Chen Xin estimated that the fire from the walls would be feeble, the Jianzhou Bandits might not dare to take the risk.

So the entire focus lay on the center. The height of the breastwork had been specially designed. The ground from fifty to sixty paces beyond the breastwork had been doused with water and frozen into ice. Over this distance — the most advantageous range for bows — if the ground was slippery, the Jianzhou Bandits would be unable to plant their feet firmly, and the power of their arrows would be greatly reduced.

In front of the breastwork were twenty Crouching Tiger cannons. The gunners had used door planks to build a low arrow-proof shield, behind which the two-man gun crews crouched. Each lead gunner had already prepared his firing fork, and the other man had readied the kindling and pre-packaged ammunition. They would provide supplementary fire at ranges of forty to eighty paces.

Behind the breastwork were four ranks of firearms troops, and behind them four ranks of assault troops arrayed in column. Across the nearly two-hundred-pace-wide front line, thirteen platoons were deployed, with one platoon in reserve behind each section. Two Banjiu Gun detachments were positioned at the left and right corners behind the center breastwork, each formed into a small square ten files wide and ten ranks deep. They would use the long range of the Banjiu Guns to provide oblique supporting fire and suppress enemy maneuvers on the flanks.

The headquarters guard unit and the cavalry served as the general reserve. The entire army was formed in a deep and dense array. Chen Xin was certain the Jianzhou Bandits had no artillery, so he was not afraid of packing his men tight.

Huang Side's indoctrination officers had already taken position behind the main defensive line, observing the soldiers' morale. Zhou Shifa led the provost guards on patrol everywhere. On the wagons flanking the command platform were the headquarters banners. The signal drums were beneath the command platform. Liu Pojun's staff officers stood beside Chen Xin. Nie Hong, with three headquarters soldiers, each held a long shield, ready at any moment to block arrows for Chen Xin.

At that moment, a faint tremor came through the wagon body. In the distance, a muffled thunder-like sound gradually swelled from far to near. A black line began to appear on the horizon.

Chen Xin gathered his thoughts, drew a deep breath, and said to Liu Pojun beside him, "Begin banner acknowledgment."

"Infantry First Company Headquarters, headquarters blue banner — begin acknowledgment."

The blue banner on the platform rose and dipped toward the First Company Headquarters. In the distance, First Company Commander Lu Chuanzong and his personal guard banner-bearer stood. The First Company's blue banner rose, dipped once in its own direction, and then the headquarters red banner and the black-heart white-border banner began acknowledging with the Second and Third Company Headquarters.

After the three company commander banners acknowledged, they began acknowledging with the squad commander banners. Six squad commander banners rose. Then they began acknowledging with the Squad Commander banners. This time eighteen Squad Commander banners rose. The eighteen Squad Commander banners began acknowledging with the section leader banners. The section leaders stood up one after another, pulled the back-banners from behind them, and waved them. Across the formation, banners suddenly fluttered everywhere, like countless butterflies in flight.

The common people atop the gate tower stared dumbfounded. It was the first time they had ever seen the martial bearing of a regular army — so this was what it looked like.

After the three company commander banners had returned the salute to the headquarters banner, Liu Pojun said to Chen Xin, "My lord, banner acknowledgment complete."

Chen Xin said to Liu Pojun, "All troops, stand!"

"Headquarters, sound the horn and blow the boro."

A deep boro horn call rang out. With a single thunderous crash, over two thousand infantrymen rose to their feet in unison — as if the entire formation had suddenly grown a section taller.

"Hu!" The whole army roared as one. The people on the city wall all jumped in fright at the sudden unified shout. Several Later Jin soldiers' mounts nearby were also startled, tossing their heads and bolting rearward.

"All troops, prepare for battle. Check equipment."

After the banner signals were relayed down level by level, every unit began checking its equipment. The firearms troops' musketeers had long since loaded their pieces. Now they wound their match cords coil by coil around their hands, while the section leaders went along lighting them and clamping them into the serpentines.

The first rank of musketeers all took one step forward, standing directly behind the breastwork.

The musketeers had the best view. Deputy Company Commander Shi Pingli of the First Company Headquarters was in the first rank, commanding all the firearms units on this section of the front. He felt the tremor coming up through his feet and stood ramrod straight, staring ahead. The opposing Later Jin army spread across the land like a black tide. The sound of tens of thousands of hooves pounding the earth was like rolling thunder closing in from the horizon. The white vapor exhaled by men and horses merged into a single cloud. Though they numbered only a few thousand, it truly had the soul-stirring feel of a mighty host.

Two staff officers from Dongjiang at headquarters successively confirmed the banners of two Mongol Gushan and one Plain Blue Banner Jalan banner, along with some Mongol tribal troops. Interspersed among the Manchu core troops were some bondservants. The estimated total strength was over three thousand, but the most combat-effective Later Jin core troops numbered only around two thousand, of whom three to four hundred were true Jurchen.

The Later Jin army finally halted two hundred paces away and began calmly dressing their ranks. Both sides studied each other, weighing the other's mettle.

Liu Pojun watched the enemy's several thousand men and horses and said to Chen Xin with a smile, "Don't tell me the Jianzhou Bandits are too scared to attack."

Chen Xin gave a dark chuckle. "Then we'll just have to think of a way."

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Unage stared coldly at the opposing military formation, his heart full of hesitation. He had taken part in nearly all of Nurhaci's great battles and was extremely experienced. The opposing formation was strict and imposing — by no means an easy opponent.

Originally, the scouts had reported back that Guan's city walls were broken and could be taken. He had therefore led the main army here, preparing to capture it and claim credit before his master. But during the march, his scouts had repeatedly encountered enemy interceptions. Although there had been few direct clashes between scouts, the enemy had displayed a vigorous desire to attack — whenever the slightest chance arose, these men wanted to take a bite. They were nothing like other Ming armies that fled at the mere rumor of Later Jin troops. In the end, he had been forced to dispatch over two hundred scout riders just to drive them off.

Now, observing the enemy up close, they were still mainly infantry, behind a low wall. The front ranks were a stretch of red; he could not see their weapons. In the rear ranks, iron-armored close-combat troops were faintly visible.

This Ming army gave him an odd feeling — as if he had seen them before, yet he could not say where. Although he held the rank of Regional Commander, he was very afraid of suffering heavy casualties, because he knew his own limits. The Mongol wings he commanded this time were not actually independent formations; they were Mongol Niru drawn from the Manchu Eight Banners. These forty Mongol Niru were divided into eight Jalan, each attached to a Manchu Banner. So he was not truly a Banner Lord — he did not even count as a Gushan. After Huang Taiji took power, he raised the Mongols' treatment and wanted to separate the Mongol Niru, but so far he had been unable to fully accomplish this. He had therefore devised a compromise: when on campaign, let them form a separate army.

Unage said to a Jurchen beside him, "Jalan Commander, my lord, what do you make of the enemy formation?" Although Unage nominally outranked this Jalan officer, the man was a Jurchen. Unage understood this well. Before every major decision, he always sought the opinion of this supervising Jalan Commander.

The Plain Blue Banner Jalan Commander scrutinized the formation carefully and said, "It seems rather difficult to assault. That wall is particularly troublesome. Look closely — firearms can be fired from behind it. I am certain their front ranks must be musketeers. But to shoot arrows, one cannot raise the bow that high unless both the bow hand and draw hand are lifted high. Yet if you release that way, the shot has no power. If we charge to the wall, our bows become useless. If we shoot from a distance, most arrows will be blocked by that low wall. And the wall seems to have been doused with water — it probably cannot be pushed over quickly either."

Both men were veterans of a hundred battles and had simultaneously recognized the purpose of that low wall. Though they were barbarians, their lives held only one pursuit: fighting. Over so many years, the battlefield observation skills they had cultivated were quite impressive. This is why military geniuses often appear among barbarians — in civilized societies, clever people's energies tend to be dispersed by other cultural pursuits. This is one reason why, in the cold-weapon era, civilized peoples often lost when facing barbarians.

Unage nodded and said, "If we cannot break this formation, Guan cannot be taken."

The Jalan Commander also said, "Naturally. If we attack from the other three sides, they can simply enter the city and mount the walls — they would reach them before we even arrived. If we must take this city, it is better to break the field formation first." Neither of them had imagined that the County Magistrate of Guan would forbid the relief army from entering the city. Given their level of knowledge, they certainly could not comprehend that County Magistrate's unique logic.

Unage studied the formation again, somewhat inclined to withdraw. He recognized the Crouching Tiger cannons in the front row. In the hands of competent gunners, those were terrifying things — no shield, no matter how many layers of cowhide, could stop them, and the deaths they caused were gruesome.

He probingly said, "The old Khan once instructed us not to recklessly assault strong fortifications. To attack and fail would only damage our prestige. A few days ago, the Great Khan himself said outside the walls of Jingshi that if we assault a strong point and our soldiers are wounded, even victory is worthless (Note 1). This Ming force is mostly infantry. It would be better to lure them onto open ground and besiege them there. What does the Jalan Commander think?"

The Jalan Commander inwardly somewhat agreed, but as he looked at Guan County town behind them, he felt a little reluctant. After all, the Jianzhou Bandits had not met a single defeat since entering the passes. Their morale and spirit were extremely high. Even the elite cavalry of Guanning and Xuan-Da could not withstand a single exchange with them — let alone this inexplicable infantry force.

Unage saw his hesitation and said nothing more. He had, in any case, tossed the problem to him. Whether to fight or not would be this Jalan Commander's decision. If men really were killed or wounded, there would be someone to share the blame.

The Jalan Commander also somewhat feared excessive losses. They were a detached army deep in enemy territory and dreaded having too many wounded — that would become a severe burden on the march. He was about to agree to withdraw when, on a wagon at the enemy headquarters banner position, a man was suddenly hoisted up, hanging upside down. The wagon slowly rolled forward from the headquarters position toward the front ranks. The Jalan Commander's eyesight was excellent, and with one glance he saw the thin queue dangling beneath the man's head.

The Jalan Commander's expression instantly turned extremely ugly. There was no need to explain — this was a captured Jurchen. A stir ran through the surrounding Later Jin troops. Ever since the old Khan's time, they had been a few hundred chasing and beating several thousand Ming soldiers. No Ming army had ever dared such a provocation.

The wagon finally stopped at a gap in the front-rank breastwork. Several brawny Ming soldiers untied the captive and forced him to kneel on the ground. A Ming soldier with a face full of brute flesh held a large blade against the captive's neck and grinned savagely toward this side. Every Later Jin soldier saw it clearly. A buzzing murmur rose from their ranks. Had Later Jin military discipline not been so strict, they would have long since erupted in curses.

The Ming soldier gestured for a while, then suddenly swung his blade up. A flash of steel, and a human head thudded to the ground. That Jianzhou Bandit had finally been used up. The blade-wielding Ming soldier triumphantly grabbed the queue with one hand, raised the head high, and swaggered back and forth outside the breastwork. A cheer of "Kill the Tatars!" rang out from the Ming ranks.

The Jalan Commander watched, grinding his teeth, and finally squeezed out a sentence through clenched jaws: "Regional Commander Unage, if the Great Khan learns that we simply left after this, what punishment will the two of us receive?"

Unage stared fixedly at that gloating Ming soldier across the way and said savagely to the personal guard behind him: "Have the Khorchin Taijis — Shineng Ming'an Daiqing, Yierduqi, and Wukeshan — come to headquarters to receive orders. Left and right wing armored troops, dismount and don armor. Firearms troops, prepare your firearms." (Note 2)

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Note 1: From the Old Manchu Archives, tenth month of the third year of Tiancong: "The Khan led the beile and a small retinue to inspect the place of attack, and said, 'It is a strong position. If our soldiers are wounded, what use is victory? In any case, these are scattered, routed troops — what threat are they to us?' He then led the army back." In truth, the Jianzhou Bandits feared assaulting strong positions most of all.

Note 2: The Jianzhou Bandits were not entirely cold-weapon. They always had some firearms in their army. In the sixth year of Tianming, the old Khan ordered: "All men who cannot draw a bow shall be made to carry three-barreled cannon and musket-guns." When Huang Taiji attacked the Xuan-Da army at Deshengmen, he was extremely cunning: "He ordered our gunners to advance and fire their guns. Once the enemy's cannon had finished firing, the Mongol troops and the Red Banner troops advanced from the west to strike, while the Yellow Banner troops charged in from the flank." He used his own firearms to lure the Ming army into firing, then launched his assault while they were reloading.