Chapter 227: Change

On the sixteenth day of the eighth month of the fourth year of Chongzhen, west of Dalinghe City, groups of Jurchen and Mongol scout riders galloped back and forth two hundred paces from the city wall, shouting provocations and flaunting their might at the Ming army. Three li beyond the wall, countless banners and troops covered the earth like a mottled carpet. Ant-like bondservants began setting up camp farther away, and on the main road from Yizhou, an unbroken stream of ox- and horse-drawn carts continued to pour in.

Near the city wall and in the hilly area to the southwest, many fires still burned, and white smoke rose from some places where fires had died down. The construction of Dalinghe City had been rushed, and the Ming army had no time to finish cutting down the surrounding trees. They had no choice but to set fires everywhere before the Later Jin army arrived, burning all the vegetation they could to force the Later Jin troops to go farther afield to gather firewood and horse fodder.

On the west wall of Dalinghe City, Zu Dashou gazed calmly at the military might of the Jianzhou Bandits before him. Inwardly, he was not particularly nervous. Since the Battle of Guangning, he had participated in every campaign against the Later Jin on the Liaoxi front, and when inside a city, he was not very afraid of the Jianzhou Bandits.

After the battles of Ningyuan and Ningjin, he had considerable confidence in defending cities. During last year's incursion battles, the Guanning Army had fought several small-scale field engagements with the Later Jin. In those, men like Cao Wenzhao, Liu Xingzuo, and Zuo Liangyu had not been at a disadvantage. Zu Dashou himself had twice ambushed the Jianzhou Bandits and even made small gains. The retainers led by Ming generals were also quite elite, able to hold their own against the Jianzhou Bandits in such small-scale field battles, yet whenever it came to a pitched battle, the entire Ming army was often completely annihilated.

After these experiences, he had gained some confidence in small-scale field battles. Moreover, with the Jianzhou Bandits suffering three setbacks in the past two years, the morale of the Ming troops across Liaodong had been lifted, and the Jianzhou Bandits' reputation for invincibility had been greatly discounted.

Several Mongol tribal soldiers, holding their reins and standing tall on their horses, galloped past right before their eyes. Beside him, He Kegang said steadily to Zu Dashou, "My lord Junior Tutor, the Bordered Red Banner has armored soldiers forming ranks. Judging by their facing, that dog-slave Yoto wants to attack Armored Platform No. 3."

Zu Dashou nodded. Both attacking and defending a city were grueling; in truth, both sides were under extreme mental strain. Whoever could gain a psychological edge was more likely to outlast the other, so both hoped to cow the opponent from the very start and seize the enemy's spirit. Yoto was an old adversary, a skilled fighter, and unlike the typical crude and savage Manchu nobles, in Zu Dashou's view, he was a man even harder to deal with than the likes of Manggūltai.

Since he had resolved to defend Dalinghe, he had to be willing to spend the capital. A tough old soldier himself, Zu Dashou did not hesitate and said coldly, "The Jianzhou Bandits already in formation number less than a thousand. That brat Yoto is insolent to this degree." Zu Dashou turned to the flag officer beside him and said, "Have Zu Kefa and Zhang Cunren move."

The flag officer relayed the order for the flag-bearer to wave the signal flags. After seeing the south gate respond with its own flag, he hurried to the parapet and leaned out. Before his eyes was a dazzling array of armor. Inside the barbican were over two hundred fierce cavalrymen, led by Zu Dashou's adopted son, Zu Kefa. These men were all Zu Dashou's retainers, among them quite a few Mongols. These Mongols, enjoying the treatment of retainers, had fighting power not one bit inferior to the Jianzhou Bandits.

The barbican gate slowly opened. A dozen or so scout riders charged out first, spreading out to cover the flanks. Two hundred cavalrymen rumbled out of the city, skillfully splitting into groups of twenty or thirty and beginning to actively attack the nearby Later Jin scout riders.

The Jianzhou Bandits' scout riders retreated one after another. The Later Jin rear formation reacted quickly, dispatching two cavalry detachments to the left and right to cut off this Ming force's retreat. At that moment, a cavalry force also charged out from the south gate of Dalinghe — the retainers led by Ningyuan Vice Regional Commander Zhang Cunren. They came from the flank, so the Later Jin cavalry on the right wing might instead be caught in a pincer. That Later Jin force turned and charged head-on toward Zhang Cunren.

A horn sounded, and Zu Kefa's scattered cavalry regrouped. Zu Kefa engaged only the hundred-plus men of the Later Jin left wing. Both sides were elite troops, and they quickly accelerated to full speed, charging at each other without flinching. The dense clashing of weapons lasted only a short time. After the two sides passed through each other, the ground was strewn with dead men and wounded horses.

The Later Jin main formation did not send reinforcements but instead began beating war drums. From the surrounding Jianzhou Bandit army rose a tidal roar of shouts, cheering on their own side.

Zu Kefa shouted loudly, quickly wheeled his horse around, and once again clashed head-on with that Jianzhou Bandit unit. Another batch of corpses was left on the ground, the casualties nearly equal on both sides. Zu Dashou's retainers displayed a standard far exceeding that of ordinary Ming troops. In truth, in the age of cold steel, as long as an army was willing to fight to the death, the disparity in casualties would not be too great.

Both sides had each lost about thirty men. This time, that Jianzhou Bandit unit did not dare to attack again. Zu Kefa also halted, and the two sides faced off. Zu Kefa glanced at the wall top. These retainers were Zu Dashou's elite troops, and Zu Kefa worried about excessive attrition.

Both Zu Dashou and He Kegang remained unmoved by the carnage on the ground. In his heart, Zu Dashou was hesitating. For now, the situation remained evenly matched, but Zu Kefa had the numerical advantage. As long as he could force the enemy to withdraw, the objective would be achieved. But that would require losing some more of his most elite retainers.

His face twitched. Just as he was about to signal Zu Kefa to attack once more, a heaven-shaking cheer erupted from the city wall. He Kegang quickly pointed to the left. Zu Dashou hurriedly looked and was astonished to see the two-hundred-plus flanking troops of the Later Jin right wing routed, throwing away their helmets and armor and scattering in flight, with Zhang Cunren's retainers in hot pursuit.

He Kegang exclaimed in surprise, "They must be from the various Mongol tribes."

Zu Dashou figured they were Mongols too, but as long as the enemy fled, he did not care whether they were true Jurchens or not. He turned to the flag officer and said loudly, "Order the Jinzhou Vice Regional Commander to lead heavy troops out of the city, form ranks along the wall, and prepare to receive the cavalry."

After the order was passed down, columns of soldiers wearing black iron armor poured out from the barbican gate tunnel and formed ranks below the city wall.

Zu Dashou saw the signal flags waving in the Later Jin rear formation. Over five hundred cavalry were being redeployed, and the dismounted Bordered Red Banner armored soldiers were also being pulled back. The timing was just right. He gave the order: "Have Zu Kefa and Zhang Cunren return! Red Barbarian Cannons and Great General Cannons, prepare ammunition!"

At the sound of the gong signaling withdrawal, this most elite force of Guanning Army retainers swiftly regrouped and withdrew toward the west gate. Over three hundred troops from the Later Jin rear formation had already charged out, and the hundred-plus true Jurchens remaining on the left wing were also in close pursuit behind the retainers.

"Hu!" The four-hundred-plus ironclad infantry below the city wall shouted in unison. Their formation began to slowly advance, and a murderous aura arose spontaneously.

A trace of pride finally appeared in the eyes of the usually calm Zu Dashou. This was something he had secretly learned from the Wendeng Battalion. Since last year, many Nine-Border Garrison commanders had studied the Wendeng Battalion, but Zu Dashou believed that only his own retainers had managed to capture that kind of imposing spirit.

The Guanning Army had done some homework on the Wendeng Battalion. The Wendeng Battalion's operations at Guan and Luanzhou had been conducted in full public view, so much information could be gathered. Through various channels, the Guanning Army learned that the Wendeng Battalion used Qi Jiguang's methods to train its troops. Although the Guanning commanders were corrupt, the threat of the Jianzhou Bandits remained, and saving their own skins was equally important. Being able to train the troops to be a bit stronger was always a good thing.

They all possessed Qi Jiguang's military manuals, and the Mandarin Duck Formation was nothing exotic to them. Some commanders tried it in their own units but found the training difficulty not low. To reach the level of the Wendeng Battalion, they would certainly have to give the troops retainer treatment, which would inevitably reduce the number of cavalry among their retainers. And they believed that here in Liaoxi, infantry was never as useful as cavalry, so most eventually gave up.

Zu Dashou paid close attention to the Wendeng Battalion's performance and felt that the Mandarin Duck Formation was actually very useful for defending cities and street fighting, most suitable for the defense-focused Liaoxi. So he trained it among his ordinary camp soldiers. But he found they completely lacked the spirit and morale of that Wendeng Battalion at Luanzhou. In the end, he selected the best veterans from the various camps under his command, created a heavy infantry force of over four hundred men, and drilled them in the Mandarin Duck Formation once every three days. He had his eldest son, Zu Zerun, personally lead them, and they received retainer treatment. Zu Dashou finally found that feeling in these men, but expanding further proved very difficult. He could not understand how Chen Xin, in that godforsaken Wendeng County where not even birds would shit, had managed to train so many strong soldiers.

Zu Kefa was the most capable fighter among Zu Dashou's nephews, which was why Zu Dashou valued him. Even with Later Jin troops pursuing behind him, he did not panic. Instead, he turned in a curve and passed diagonally across the front of the infantry formation. If the Later Jin troops continued to follow, they would pass within the arquebus range of this infantry formation.

Zhang Cunren's troops, having routed the enemy to their front, had no worry of pursuit and were now closing in for a pincer attack. The Later Jin reinforcements were still relatively far away. The Ming army could completely maul this detached force before the Later Jin reinforcements arrived.

Zu Dashou's eyes flickered. Just as it seemed over a hundred Jianzhou Bandit heads might be taken, that pursuing force nimbly turned in a loop and fled. Two Red Barbarian Cannons and over a dozen Great General and Second General Cannons on the city wall roared, their thunder shaking the distance. Over ten iron balls smashed down near the three-hundred-plus Later Jin reinforcements, kicking up clouds of dust.

After the Red Barbarian Cannons spoke, the sound of the gong came from the Later Jin rear formation. All the cavalry they had sent out withdrew to three li away, abandoning the plan to attack Armored Platform No. 3. Zu Kefa laughed heartily and led his cavalry to collect the heads of the Jianzhou Bandits on the ground — over thirty in total. Zhang Cunren, on the other hand, had only slain a little over twenty, because those Mongol tribal soldiers ran too fast and their riding skills were simply too good.

Below the city wall, the Ming retainers brandished the heads in triumph. A few Mongol retainers even tied ropes around the feet of some wounded Jianzhou Bandits and dragged them behind their horses, galloping back and forth. The Ming troops on the city wall were in high spirits and cheered them in unison.

He Kegang cupped his hands to Zu Dashou and said, "Only by being able to fight can one then hold. The Jianzhou Bandits' morale has been seized. This humble general asserts that the Jianzhou Bandits can only return with broken wings."

Zu Dashou inwardly agreed. Although he was heartbroken over the loss of several dozen elite retainers, compared to the fertile land nearby, it was well worth it. By now, he was full of confidence in thwarting the Jianzhou Bandits' attack.

Because of the great victory at Shenmi Island and the Jingshi Office having stolen the censor's evidence, Liang Tingdong was not dismissed as in the original history. Although the construction of Dalinghe City was constantly criticized by court officials, it never reached the point of a raging court debate. During this period of delay, large numbers of laborers and ox- and horse-drawn carts traveled day and night between Jinzhou and Dalinghe. The Liaodong Provincial Governor Qiu Jiahe was able to transport ample provisions to Dalinghe. The Liaozhen garrison also transferred three thousand additional combat troops into Dalinghe. The Ming army's investment of defending troops in Dalinghe was nearly double that of the original history, and there also appeared several hundred Zu-family ironclad infantry modeled after Qi Jiguang's army.

The Later Jin, because of the blow at Shenmi Island, was delayed for some time, giving Dalinghe the time to complete its construction. The city's defenses were more complete and solid than in the original history.

The things Song Wenxian and the others had done in Beijing were all decided on the spur of the moment, generally in line with Chen Xin's overall requirements. But as the instigator, Chen Xin was still completely unaware of them now. He had never imagined that the small office he had set up in Jingshi would actually alter the course of the Dalinghe campaign. At this moment, he was still preparing according to his original steps.