Chapter 146: The Battle of the Four Cities (VI)

On the fifth day of the fifth month of the third year of the Chongzhen reign, a few days earlier than in history, the Ming army launched the campaign to recapture the four cities within the pass. The Ming forces committed nearly one hundred thousand troops. Besides the main force at Luanzhou, there was also Liu Kexun's Sichuan army unit attacking Zunhua, Zhu Mei's Guanning army unit making a feint at Qian'an, and Sun Chengzong's central army under He Kegang pinning down Yongping.

Below the walls of Luanzhou, the Ming army's retainers and scout riders swept back and forth, dominating the battlefield. Inside the various encampments, men shouted and horses neighed, and the sound of drums and horns was unceasing. After each unit had eaten early in the morning, large numbers of infantry pushed the siege equipment out of the camps and arrayed them in the staging area one li away.

On the walls of Luanzhou, the Jianzhou bandits stood in full battle array. Shouting loudly, they directed some of the civilians from Qian'an to carry earth, stones, and rolling logs.

One li from the western wall, the Wendeng Battalion infantry all sat on the ground. The Wendeng Battalion's assembly area was positioned directly opposite the western gate tower. Although the Emperor had ordered the Wendeng Battalion to guard the artillery, Sun Chengzong was no civil official who rigidly followed orders. He believed it was impossible for the Jianzhou bandits to capture the red-barbarian cannons under these circumstances, and tacitly permitted Chen Xin's unit to assault the city. He simply placed the Wendeng Battalion and the red-barbarian cannons together during the disposition, fulfilling a literal escort duty—a piece of bureaucratic window-dressing. After Chen Xin grasped the intent, he also asked Ma Shilong for the vanguard assault mission.

To prepare for street fighting, the Wendeng Battalion had already reorganized into more flexible combat groups. Each group consisted of one killer squad paired with one firearms squad, with the killer squad leader in command. Each ju was divided into five combat groups, and each combat group could be further split by the commander into two small teams, each small team composed of one five-man firelock squad and one five-man killer squad.

The various banner and squad leaders were seizing the last moments to give final combat briefings, emphasizing the operational points for employing the combat groups after entering the city.

On both flanks of the Wendeng Battalion were the various regional relief armies. They had already pushed out all kinds of engineering equipment, the most numerous being shielded assault cars and pointed wooden donkeys, which would be used to fill the moat and undermine the walls. Next came moat-bridging wagons, and behind these were the scaling-ladder carts.

Ma Shilong's one-zhang-six-chi regional commander's red banner was positioned slightly to the north. A portion of cavalry had been drawn from each regional commander's force, to be used for pursuit after the Jianzhou bandits collapsed and fled.

Liu Minyou followed at the central army, listening to the unending horns and drums around him, his heart unavoidably tense. This was his first time witnessing ancient warfare, and a siege assault at that. Zhang Erhui, who was with Liu Minyou, stared at the top of the wall, his eyes full of hatred. He had lost his home to the Jianzhou bandits when he was just a few years old, and his hatred for them was no less than that of the Dongjiang refugees.

Chen Xin smiled at the two of them and said, "The Jianzhou bandits think they can hold a city with just a few bows?"

Liu Minyou withdrew his gaze from the wall top and turned to a spot fifty paces in front of the Wendeng Battalion's formation. There, several dozen No. 2 small red-barbarian cannons were arrayed in a line. Facing the gate tower were ten red-barbarian cannons weighing two thousand seven hundred jin. A unit of Guangdong troops and a unit of capital garrison troops were busily deploying the battery, digging pits in the ground or wedging wooden beams under the cannon wheels.

Some of the Guangdong officers who could speak the official language were explaining things to the capital garrison troops. Holding a booklet, they checked the powder bags and iron shot at each position, instructing the gunners on loading. The methods they used far exceeded Chen Xin's prior understanding. He had assumed that fixed pre-packaged propellant charges for cannons would only appear much later; who knew they were already in use. They were all propellant charges wrapped in cotton cloth, and each bag bore a serial number (Note 1). After loading, an iron awl was used to pierce the powder bag through the touchhole, then priming powder was poured in. Immediately after, a gunner would cover the touchhole with a hand or cloth to prevent the priming powder from being scattered by the wind.

In addition, there was a group of red-haired, blue-eyed Portuguese. They were even busier than the Guangdong officers, constantly measuring and calculating with their instruments. These men were the mercenaries Lu Ruohan had recruited from Macau. In the original course of history, this group later became the instructors for Kong Youde's forces in Dengzhou, giving Kong Youde the capital to become a traitor.

Liu Minyou observed carefully. The Portuguese used four kinds of instruments in total. The first was a copper plate marked with many scales, with a plumb bob hanging below it, held before the eyes with both hands. The second was an object somewhat resembling a vernier caliper, also with a plumb bob, inserted into the muzzle when used. The third was like an ordinary ruler. The fourth he recognized—a monocular telescope…

Liu Minyou quietly asked Chen Xin what those things were. Chen Xin also shook his head. He had made a rough inquiry earlier and only knew their names: degree board, far-glass, gunner's level, and gunner's ruler. The artillery could use these instruments for sighting. As for exactly how they were used, Chen Xin did not quite understand either. He had arranged for Huang Side to recruit people after this was over; he had to find a few experts.

After this batch of large red-barbarian cannons and Portuguese arrived in the capital, both the high and low ranks attached great importance to them. At that time, Xu Guangqi, serving as Vice Minister of Rites, submitted a memorial to the Chongzhen Emperor discussing the uses of the red-barbarian cannons, particularly emphasizing that the sighting techniques for the red-barbarian cannons were a secret skill of the army and state, best taught to the reliable sons of meritorious nobles for regular use. Many in the Ministry of War and the Chief Surveillance Court opposed letting the large red-barbarian cannons leave the city, fearing they would fall into the hands of the Jianzhou bandits. Hence the Emperor's personal arrangement for the Wendeng Battalion to guard them.

The Guanning army also had its own red-barbarian cannons. Sun Yuanhua, the Ningyuan Army Intendant, handed the cannon unit over to Assistant Regional Commander Huang Long. Dragged by oxen all the way, they had arrived at Luanzhou. This unit had been personally instructed in gunnery by Sun Yuanhua, and a few men had also received training from the first group of Portuguese instructors in the third year of the Tianqi reign. Peng Zangu, who had commanded the Ningyuan artillery back then, was one of them. Therefore, the red-barbarian cannon operation skills of both Ma Shilong's and Zu Dashou's units were relatively high.

Liu Minyou was about to ask more when a gong sounded from Ma Shilong's central army. The roving riders beneath the walls all withdrew. Then, a sudden roar came from the front. A large red-barbarian cannon recoiled violently backward. A black iron ball flashed through the air and struck the edge of the moat beneath the city wall, raising a cloud of dust.

Chen Xin said, "They've started ranging shots."

Next, a small red-barbarian cannon also fired once. It struck the city wall. A small blossom of stone shards and dust burst open on the rampart, and cries of alarm from the Jianzhou bandits came from the wall top.

The Second Killer Banner Unit was listening to Huang Yuan assign tasks. When the cannons fired over there, they all turned their heads to watch the excitement, but then the cannons fell silent again. Huang Yuan shouted, "Stop looking, everyone turn back around. This city wall isn't going to collapse in just a moment."

Zhou Shao'er and the others could only reluctantly turn back. They had never seen so many red-barbarian cannons opening fire before.

Huang Yuan continued, "Our First Battalion Headquarters' mission is to infiltrate along the small streets, reach the north gate position, and then seal the north gate. The Second Battalion Headquarters will assault northward along the city wall with one si. The Third Battalion Headquarters will advance along the main cross street to the city center and then cut off the main thoroughfares. Our entry sequence is after the Third Battalion. After entering the city, our ju will immediately turn north, clearing the West Gate Avenue to let the brothers behind us enter. Everyone remember at all times to use the north gate tower as your reference point; do not deviate from the direction. Our ju is organized into five combat groups, with each killer squad leader serving as group leader. When a combat group splits further into small teams, the firearms squad leader will serve as the leader of one small team. When fighting on main streets, the combat group divides into two five-man squads left and right. When fighting on small streets, the killer squad forms a small three-talent formation, only advancing to close combat after the firearms have fired. The Jianzhou bandit banners on the western wall include a part of the Plain Blue Banner, a part of the Plain Yellow Banner, and perhaps some Mongol tribal troops. We are not afraid of them. When reinforcements are needed, the group leader blows a bamboo whistle to call for support…"

Chen Ying listened while sharpening his dagger. After putting the dagger away, he reached out and touched his waist tablet, rubbing his fingers over the three marks on it. Those were the three Jianzhou bandits he had killed at Gu'an. He was only two short of the seven members of his family. Remembering the eyes of his family of seven looking at him before he left home, Chen Ying's eyes reddened slightly. That scene was something he could never forget.

Huang Yuan had finished explaining the points of attention by now. He glanced at the comrades around him and finally emphasized, "Everyone remember clearly: our objective is to control the north gate barbican together with the Second Battalion Headquarters. Everything else is secondary. Unless necessary, do not get bogged down in fighting, and do not pursue routing soldiers in other directions. Is that understood?"

All the soldiers shouted loudly, "Understood!"

While the soldiers were being briefed, Chen Xin was not idle either. He confirmed the routes one last time with the four battalion commanders. He was still single-mindedly focused on sealing the north gate. Since Sun Chengzong had not stipulated the routes anyway, and since they could not encircle from outside the city, they would encircle from within. The Ming army's attack plan was extremely crude; the boundaries of attack were simply divided by the city walls, and there was no concrete plan for actions after entering the city…

So Chen Xin planned to use the Third Battalion to control the central cross street and split the Jianzhou bandits' forces, the First Battalion to seal the north gate, and the Second Battalion to assault along the city wall toward the north gate barbican. However, since it was difficult to deploy troops on the wall, he would only commit one si of the Second Battalion. The remaining one si would be kept under Chen Xin's own control, entering West Gate Avenue after the aforementioned forces had deployed, ready to reinforce the north gate and the cross street intersection at any time. How many Jianzhou bandits could be trapped depended on the speed of the Wendeng Battalion's actions. Chen Xin's requirement for every unit was bravery and swiftness, and not dispersing forces on secondary objectives. As for the cavalry, Chen Xin had Zhu Guobin remain outside the city to decide the timing of attack on his own, but required that unless dispatched by Ma Shilong, they were not to go outside the north gate. Because Sun Chengzong had said in front of everyone at the grand assembly to surround on three sides and leave one open; how would Chen Xin dare to violate a military order?

The premise for all these plans was the capture of the west gate. Chen Xin did not know how effective the red-barbarian cannons would be against the city wall. It would be best if they could collapse a portion of the barbican wall. Luanzhou had only a little over a thousand Jianzhou bandits in total. Divided among the four walls, each side would have only a few hundred. A few hundred Jianzhou bandits could never withstand the Wendeng Battalion's infantry units. Moreover, the streets inside the city would restrict them, and the Jianzhou bandits' meager mounted skills would be useless. Such an environment was a perfect time to kill Jianzhou bandits. Once they were let out, Chen Xin himself had no confidence, let alone those allied troops.

A burst of loud work chants came from the artillery battery up front. The gunners raised their linstocks in unison. Several Guangdong officers hurried back to the battery from Ma Shilong's central army. Seeing this, Chen Xin knew it was about to begin. He sent the three commanding officers back to their formations and waited at the central army to watch the red-barbarian cannons' performance. ———————————————————————————————

Note 1: Fixed pre-packaged propellant charges for cannons and their classification numbering were not high technology. The "Bing Lu" and "Xi Fa Shen Ji" already contain such records. The "Bing Lu – Xi Yang Huo Gong Shen Qi" states: "Use cloth or paper to sew and fit the charge accordingly, still seal and mark the name, for convenient use when the time comes… First insert an iron nail into the touchhole, then apply the touchhole powder…"

Xu Guangqi's memorial discussing the sighting methods for red-barbarian cannons mentioned the use of the telescope. It can be inferred that the Portuguese or Ming artillerymen were likely already using telescopes.