Chapter 140: The Situation of Battle

That day the Wendeng Battalion was deployed to Deshengmen. After the Later Jin sentry riders outside spotted the Wendeng Battalion's banners, they quickly notified Huang Taiji. On the north side, Huang Taiji began preparing shield carts and long ladders while also repeatedly sending letters indicating he was willing to negotiate peace.

Upon hearing that Ming army had reached Deshengmen, Huang Taiji personally led troops to observe the formation outside Deshengmen. It was also Chen Xin's first time seeing the Later Jin main force. Outside the city, the Later Jin grand formation was a sea of fluttering banners; dense, layered cavalry spread across the land like dark clouds, a field of bobbing horse heads as far as the eye could see. Scattered sentry riders had already ridden to within a hundred paces of the city wall, shrieking strange howls from their mouths.

Wen Tiren and the newly appointed Vice Minister of War Liang Tingdong also arrived at the north gate. The two men watched the imposing might of the Later Jin army, their brows deeply furrowed.

Wen Tiren said to Chen Xin in a low voice, "The Jianzhou Bandits have been causing trouble for over a decade, and now they can actually threaten the Divine Capital, with only a single wall separating them from our Sacred Son of Heaven. It truly fills us ministers with worry. At present, His Majesty looks upon you with special favor. Chen Xin, you must seize this opportunity and apply yourself with all your heart. If you can earn another merit, your future prospects will be even more boundless."

Chen Xin bowed and received the instruction. In front of Wen Tiren, he tried to speak as little as possible. Having already presented Wen Tiren with a share of military merit this time, no further words were needed.

Wen Tiren continued, "Regarding the post of Mobile Corps Commander for you, I have already given it thorough thought. The post of Deng-Lai Provincial Governor must be restored. Wang Tingshi is currently sharing in your military merit and has the loudest voice; he should not treat you poorly either. But last time Daoist Priest mentioned that you still wished to remain in Wendeng, so I have already advised His Majesty to establish a Mobile Corps or Reinforcement Battalion in Deng-Lai, still called the Wendeng Battalion, to be stationed partly in Wendeng and partly in Weihai, serving as a reserve force for Dongjiang." Wen Tiren knew Chen Xin had his own ways of making money and did not wish for him to go to the garrison city and be placed right under Wang Tingshi's nose.

Chen Xin had a clear idea about this. Song Wenxian had already gone to Qian Yuanke to make inquiries. According to the Nine Border Garrisons system, besides the Provincial Governor's personal battalion, there were also four other types: Main, Surprise, Reinforcement, and Mobile. A single garrison establishing a Mobile Corps Commander would form a Mobile Corps Battalion; an Assistant Regional Commander would command a Reinforcement Battalion; a Vice Regional Commander would command a Surprise Battalion. Even if his merit was higher, he could not possibly be promoted in one leap to Regional Commander in charge of a Main Battalion. Among these, the Vice Regional Commander's Surprise Battalion had to be stationed in the garrison city, leaving only the Mobile Corps Battalion and the Reinforcement Battalion. Serving as Mobile Corps Commander or Assistant Regional Commander and being stationed separately in Wendeng would give him greater freedom.

The uses of Mobile Corps and Reinforcement troops also differed. Mobile Corps could be used for cross-garrison support without Ministry of War deployment, while Reinforcement Battalions were in principle for defending the local area. This time, Chen Xin's acting rank went from Vice Prefect to Guard Commander, only a one-step promotion, but his military post went from Picket Officer to Mobile Corps Commander, already skipping Garrison Commander. Due to the rush of time, this was only a temporary promotion to make his command of the Wendeng Battalion legitimate. Given his military merit, a formal promotion should still be coming, with honorific rank and hereditary privilege for his son still to follow. But he had no interest in those things; what mattered most was actual benefit. A Mobile Corps Battalion generally had just over a thousand men, still far from enough for him.

That day, Wen Tiren specially introduced him to the Right Vice Minister of War Liang Tingdong. This man was said to possess considerable frontier talent. In his early years, he had served as the Yongping Military Defense Circuit Intendant and had once had some friction with Yuan Chonghuan. Later, when Wei Zhongxian held power and everyone was building living shrines for him, he alone refused to go and instead resigned and left. He was only reappointed after Chongzhen ascended the throne.

Since the Jianzhou Bandits invaded this time, although Liang Tingdong had not fought a single battle, his memorials and responses to the Emperor were quite strategic, and he had already been promoted three levels in a row. Earlier he was the Circuit Intendant of Koubei. As soon as Jizhen Provincial Governor Wang Yuanya hanged himself, he became Governor of Jizhen with the title of Right Assistant Censor-in-Chief. Then when Wang Qia was thrown into prison, a position opened up, and he became Right Vice Minister of War. After that, Yuan Chonghuan was also imprisoned, and Lord Liang was promoted another level, becoming Viceroy of Ji-Liao-Baoding Military Affairs and taking overall command of all the King's Service troops.

In the two months since the Jianzhou Bandits entered the passes, this Lord Liang had already been promoted three levels in a row. Now it was said the Emperor was also dissatisfied with Shen Yongmao's ability, and Liang Tingdong was bravely advancing toward the fourth level, Minister of War. Every time someone else suffered misfortune, this fellow reaped the benefit. Meanwhile, Chen Xin had risked his head in battle and only just been promoted one level. He could not help but feel great envy and admiration for Lord Liang. He could see that Liang Tingdong and Wen Tiren had a close relationship. Lord Liang was a hot candidate for Minister of War and would certainly be more useful than Qian Yuanke. Since Wen Tiren had made the connection, Chen Xin would definitely have to grease the wheels. Fortunately, he had seized some gold and silver at Gu'an, making gift-giving quite convenient...

At present, the Jianzhou Bandits were still beneath the walls of Jingshi. If he could earn more battle merit, with the Emperor's favor, being promoted to Assistant Regional Commander would be no problem. Then he would need to carve out a territory of his own from Deng-Lai, so he wouldn't be constrained by others at every turn. But looking at the military might of the Jianzhou Bandits below the city, Chen Xin was secretly just as afraid. It wasn't their numbers, but the natural advantage cavalry held over infantry. If they couldn't win, they would just run. Once his own forces were entangled by them in open country, they wouldn't even need to fight; they could simply surround and starve him to death.

The Later Jin Khan's great banner outside the city was very far away. Chen Xin could only make out some blurry figures. Deshengmen had several Luzon great bronze guns, early copies of red-barbarian cannons. The Later Jin sentry riders had probably scouted them out, so their main army did not approach.

After a while, an armored soldier came running over from that side. He stopped his horse fifty paces from the city wall, holding a rolled document high in his hand as he looked at the wall. A buzz of discussion rose among the Capital Battalion soldiers on the wall.

Chen Xin made an exaggerated show of calling over two personal guards, who shielded both Wen Tiren and Liang Tingdong behind long shields. Wen Tiren actually had some nerve; he ordered the shield-bearer to withdraw, stood beside the battlement, and snorted, "Barbarian scum, thinking they can imitate a treaty signed beneath the city walls."

Chen Xin probed, "My lord, shall I have him blasted to death?"

Wen Tiren's eyes flickered a few times, and finally he slowly shook his head. "Just a soldier delivering a letter. Killing him would lose us the dignity of the Celestial Dynasty." Chen Xin offered a couple of flattering words of agreement, but if he were defending the city alone, he would have killed him first and talked later. He had no desire to leave any room for the Jianzhou Bandits anyway.

Seeing no response from the city wall, that Later Jin soldier placed the document on the ground, spurred his horse, and galloped back. A Capital Battalion soldier was lowered from the wall in a basket, ran over, and retrieved it.

After reading it, the Vice Regional Commander of the Shenji Battalion at Deshengmen reported back to Wen Tiren, saying it was a challenge to the Wendeng Battalion for a set-piece battle, two thousand men from each side. The surrounding Wendeng Battalion and Capital Battalion officers all looked at the civil officials, waiting to see how they would decide.

Wen Tiren suddenly burst out laughing and said to Liang Tingdong, "Lord Liang, have the Jianzhou Bandits been reading too much Romance of the Three Kingdoms?"

Liang Tingdong also said disdainfully, "The Jianzhou Bandits played these same tricks during the great battle of Ning-Jin. Just ignore them."

Wen Tiren agreed, "Why bother with such barbarians? Let's see if they dare attack the city."

The Later Jin army outside the city waited a while and, seeing no movement, left on their own. They indeed did not dare attack the city. Huang Taiji was building siege equipment on the north side, but it was merely to apply pressure, hoping to extort more things. Who knew the Ming court had considerable backbone? Although they lost battle after battle, they still would not accept a treaty signed beneath the city walls.

For several days in a row, Chen Xin thus led his troops guarding the area between Deshengmen and Andingmen, watching the Later Jin sentry riders practice shuttle runs beneath the city walls every day.

His extortion having failed, Huang Taiji switched to outright robbery. Considering that last time they passed Tongzhou they had been in a hurry and missed many scenic spots, he sent Abatai, Ajige, Jirgalang, and others back to Tongzhou for a self-guided tour. Unexpectedly, they found the Ming army at Zhangjiawan had fled on its own. The Later Jin picked up a huge bargain. This bustling place on the Grand Canal was a gathering point for goods, and the Later Jin troops looted their fill and returned. Now the Eight Banners had even less desire to fight to the death. The Later Jin troops abandoned their pile of shield carts and long ladders, left the north side of the city, and headed back east via Tongzhou.

Hearing that the Later Jin troops had withdrawn from the capital region, officials and commoners in the capital all breathed a sigh of relief. The sword hanging over their heads had finally been removed. Then rumors spread in Jingshi that it was because the Wendeng Battalion had arrived at the capital and the Tatars were afraid, so they hurriedly withdrew. The Wendeng Battalion's reputation grew even louder. In truth, Chen Xin had merely sent Huang Side and Zhang Dahui to spread the word, and they had pulled off a pretty good advertisement.

Although the Later Jin troops had left Jingshi, they were still within Great Ming territory. Unhurried, as if strolling through a courtyard, they casually crushed a battalion of Guan-Ning infantry outside Jizhou. Then Huang Taiji received a report from the Later Jin troops left to guard Zunhua, saying that the dozen or so Jizhen passes that had surrendered when they first broke through had all rebelled and switched back. This showed that Huang Taiji had not put his heart into local governance construction at the time. The Regional Commander of Miyun, upon hearing this, even went to attack Zunhua once, only to be routed by the small Later Jin garrison force...

Although the Ming armies coming to the King's aid grew more numerous, their field combat capability grew weaker. After Man Gui, the one most daring in battle early on, died, virtually no Ming army dared to proactively attack the Later Jin forces.

Huang Taiji now disdained those minor passes. In his view, he could exit the passes smoothly from any pass in Jizhen. Although the Later Jin troops had suffered a minor setback at Gu'an, the Wendeng Battalion had subsequently turtled up and refused to come out, so their confidence remained ample. After passing Jizhou, they split their forces to raid the surrounding prefectures and counties. He chose the first day of the first lunar month, a day of universal celebration, to set out for Yongping. After a series of deployments, they took Yongping in a single battle on the fourth. Cowed by this, Qian'an and Luanzhou both surrendered. Huang Taiji then had the surrendered officials' heads shaved, gave them higher posts, and let them continue managing affairs.

In this way, there were now four major cities under Later Jin control, providing a relatively stable rear area. Huang Taiji was still not satisfied. He then went via Yongping to Funing County and even tried his luck at Shanhai Pass. After arriving at Shanhai Pass, Sun Chengzong reorganized the troops, sent word to Zu Dashou, and delivered a letter in Yuan Chonghuan's own hand. Zu Dashou once again led his troops into the pass. Shanhai Pass was now thick with heavy troops, with over fifty red-barbarian cannons alone and over two thousand "exterminate the caitiffs" guns. The Liao troops, with their own vital interests at stake, had a far firmer will to fight than they had at Jingshi. Huang Taiji circled around but couldn't even take Funing County and abandoned the plan to attack Shanhai Pass.

It wasn't just Shanhai Pass; the Later Jin army couldn't even take Changli, which had hardly any troops. The newly appointed Changli County Magistrate Zuo Yingxuan was full of courage and had remarkable organizational skills. With no troops in the city, he organized all the able-bodied men, took in some routed soldiers from Luanzhou and Yongping, and at the same time frantically prepared gunpowder, rolling logs, and stones. He led by example, commanding from the city wall the entire time. The whole city was united in resolve. The Later Jin troops arrived at the city wall on the eighth, initially attacking with seven to eight thousand men, mostly Mongol tribal troops, but were repelled by the defenders. The Later Jin then reinforced to over ten thousand men and attacked from the ninth all the way to the fourteenth of the first month. Even Huang Taiji personally rushed to the city to take command. After inspecting, he found the defenders didn't even have firelocks or cannons. Yet they attacked for another two days. Although Zuo Yingxuan had no cannons, he had plenty of gunpowder. He ground the powder fine and scattered it down like a celestial maiden scattering flowers, then threw torches to burn the Jianzhou Bandits' faces.

The Later Jin's weakness in siege capability was once again exposed. After getting close to the city wall, they hadn't even prepared enough iron spades and picks for digging at the wall; they were truly unprofessional in demolition. Meanwhile, Changli held firm day after day and won. The city's fighting spirit soared, making it ever harder to conquer. Huang Taiji and Daišan, finally helpless, had to give up on this stubborn household. The Later Jin army, which claimed to win every battle and take every objective, ultimately smashed their heads bloody against the small city of Changli. Changli County, without deep moats or high walls, proved even more tenacious than a strategic stronghold like Zunhua.

After repeatedly hitting a wall, Huang Taiji admonished his subordinates not to recklessly attack cities. If a city's fighting spirit was high, they were not to test it but to withdraw immediately. But the impact of the Battle of Changli went far beyond this. After other small cities and stockades near Yongping heard of the Changli affair, they all refused to surrender. The good days of surrendering at the mere sight of his banner were temporarily over.

While Huang Taiji had a headache, Chongzhen had an even worse one. The Later Jin had occupied Yongping and Qian'an, basically cutting the road from Jingshi to Shanhai Pass, leaving him without news of the Guan-Ning army for days. Troops from Zhejiang, Henan, Shandong, and other places arrived one after another, but the combat effectiveness of these inland King's Service armies was even lower. All things considered, only the Guan-Ning forces were the most numerous and had the strongest fighting power.

The Ministry of Revenue still could not produce any extra silver. Even for someone like Chen Xin, whom the Emperor personally looked after, the Ministry of Revenue still said they had no money. Wen Tiren, after much pleading and arguing, got them to produce ten thousand taels, but even the head-count rewards had not yet been paid in full.

Besides silver, there were even more vexing matters. Shanxi Provincial Governor Geng Ruqi and Shanxi Garrison Regional Commander Zhang Honggong had each led their personal battalions and the Shanxi Garrison Main Battalion to the King's aid. When they reached the vicinity of Jingshi, they ran out of provisions and applied for supplies. According to Great Ming regulations, they could only receive military rations on the second day after arriving at a location. So on the first day they were transferred to Tongzhou, on the second day to Changping, and on the third day to Liangxiang. In three days they were shifted to three different places, circling outside the Fifth Ring Road, never staying in one place until the second day, and thus never receiving rations once. In the dead of winter, marching uselessly every day and not getting enough to eat, the soldiers' fury boiled over. The civil officials might be clever, but the soldiers weren't fools. Finally, they scattered in a riot, looting all the way as they fled back to Shanxi. The Shanxi Garrison was also an elite force of the Nine Border Garrisons. Over five thousand cavalry and infantry from two battalions, having endured countless hardships to reach Jingshi for the King's aid, received such treatment. Because of the petty cleverness of the civil officials, another precious force was lost...

In his fury, Chongzhen had Geng Ruqi and Zhang Honggong arrested and thrown into prison. The Ministry of War officials who had issued the chaotic transfer orders received no punishment whatsoever. Chen Xin, now well-informed in Jingshi, upon hearing this, sent Zhu Guobin and the training team to pursue the mutinous troops of the Shanxi Garrison, instructing them to recruit some Night Scouts and cavalry back.

After these incidents, Chen Xin became even more reluctant to leave the capital. A Provincial Governor was still a high-ranking civil official, yet this was his treatment now. He himself was merely a Mobile Corps Commander of a guest army, and even right under the Emperor's nose his reward silver could be withheld. Heaven knows what kind of torment he would suffer once he left the capital. And those allied troops were also very unreliable; fighting alongside them was truly nerve-wracking. So he just kept clinging to the capital, not daring to leave the city.

But the Wendeng Battalion had a reputation as a strong army after all. Vice Minister of War Liu Zhilun took a liking to him. Fortunately, Wen Tiren also knew that this handful of troops couldn't defeat the Jianzhou Bandits. He sought out Liang Tingdong, who had already been promoted to Minister of War, and easily deflected the request. Liu Zhilun then changed his request to the Sichuan troops, but the Ministry of War didn't agree either. In the end, he recruited over ten thousand men himself, a large portion of whom were the beggar soldiers who had fled from that martyred Vice Regional Commander Shen. Then he prepared to leave the capital to kill Tatars.

Although Chen Xin admired his courage, he dared not take risks with him. When he encountered Liu Zhilun at the Ministry of War, he even advised him not to attack rashly, but to wait until the main armies had gathered before engaging in battle. He was met with Liu Zhilun's cold mockery instead.

Liu Zhilun was determined to lead his "grand army" out. Liang Tingdong, having received Chen Xin's gifts and taking Wen Tiren's wishes into account, used the pretext of preventing the Jianzhou Bandits from returning to keep the Wendeng Battalion behind, still guarding the north city.

On the day Liu Zhilun set out, many officials in the capital saw him off. Many admired this man from Yibin's courage, but none were optimistic about his fate. They had come almost with the mood of attending a funeral. Chen Xin followed behind Wen Tiren, watching Liu Zhilun's army. Most of them were emaciated and weak, barely equipped with swords and spears, with a small number of cotton armors. They looked more like what Chen Xin imagined bandit rabble to be.

The only things that looked passable were a few cannons, but something about them always struck Chen Xin as off. He reached out and touched one with his hand, and was so shocked he nearly stumbled and fell to the ground.

His mouth agape, he asked Liu Zhilun, "Vice Minister Liu, this is..."

Liu Zhilun said matter-of-factly, "Wooden cannons!"