Chapter 249: Collaborators Within

Dengzhou was once again blanketed by heavy snow. The white flakes buried the corpses left from the great battle days before, forming mound after mound of raised snowdrifts. A group of soldiers in Ming army uniforms were wailing at the city gate, begging the gate commander to let them inside.

Zhang Keda, Regional Commander of Dengzhou Garrison, watched with a cold sneer. He said to the gate commander, "Do not permit them entry. These men broke at the first clash before the battle lines — they are useless. Moreover, their sudden arrival to surrender makes their true intentions hard to gauge."

That commander was also Zhang Keda's subordinate, not one of the old Dongjiang men, and felt not a shred of pity for these Liaodong soldiers. He nodded in agreement and shouted down from the wall, "All of you, get the hell away from here! Anyone who comes closer to the gate will be shot dead without exception."

Below the wall, a man who looked like a squad commander shouted back in abuse, "Go screw your mother, you southern soldier! I escaped by the skin of my teeth, and now I have to take crap from a worthless bastard like you? Are you trying to force us to join the rebels or what?"

Zhang Keda instructed those beside him, "Shoot a few of them dead."

Several of his retainers immediately raised their bows. Just as they were about to reach full draw, an angry shout came from behind: "All of you, put those down, by my order!"

Zhang Keda recognized the voice as Sun Yuanhua's. Turning his head, he saw Sun Yuanhua striding up onto the wall, followed by Zhang Dao, Wang Zheng, and others. He hurriedly saluted and said, "My lord Sun, those outside are all routed soldiers. They were captured for several days before claiming to have escaped and returned. There may be a plot within. This subordinate was about to drive them away."

Sun Yuanhua walked to the battlements, looked down at the ragged group of routed soldiers outside the wall, and said to Zhang Dao behind him, "Come and identify them. See if they are men from your former command."

Zhang Dao examined them carefully for a moment, then replied, "That squad commander is indeed this subordinate's former man. I cannot fully identify the rest." He immediately added, "They should all be mine. Anyone in my battalion could identify them all. Just let them in after checking them one by one at the gate."

"How can Assistant Regional Commander Zhang say such a thing!" Zhang Keda raged at Zhang Dao. "Have you forgotten the old affair at Liaoyang? Had we not let the Mongols in, how could it have fallen in a single morning, leading to the irretrievable disaster in Liaodong? Now Li Jiucheng has his troops encamped outside the city. Those rebels have no reinforcements to hope for. Though we are surrounded on three sides, we have the water city as our rear line. Once spring begins, provisions and reinforcements can both be resupplied. We need only hold the city firmly and wait for the rebels to run out of grain and collapse on their own. We absolutely must not let any suspicious person enter the city."

The soldiers outside the city were all from Zhang Dao's command. That day, when he led troops against Li Jiucheng, his Liaodong soldiers had broken at the first clash, many of them voluntarily running over to the rebel side, dragging Zhang Keda's main-force battalion into rout as well and making him unable to hold his head up before Sun Yuanhua. Now, seeing soldiers coming to surrender, he felt he could count it as reducing his losses and was single-mindedly hoping to let these men into the city.

He said coldly to Zhang Keda, "How does my lord Zhang know these soldiers are not sincerely coming to surrender? Just as my lord said, the rebels are an isolated force with a bleak prospect. These soldiers naturally do not wish to serve them."

"Then how does Assistant Regional Commander Zhang know there are no spies sent by Li Jiucheng among them?"

"This subordinate said just now: let them in only after clearly identifying them one by one at the gate. They are all subordinates I brought from Pi Island. They have not served together with Li Jiucheng and his lot for a long time. What benefit would they gain by following Li Jiucheng in rebellion? We hold the great moral authority of the imperial court. Regional Commander Zhang, do not be overly defensive."

Zhang Keda knew that Zhang Dao was Sun Yuanhua's trusted confidant and that he himself could not sway him. He addressed Sun Yuanhua directly: "My lord Sun, the Dongjiang soldiers have mutinied three times on Pi Island and once in Shandong. This general will not say that every one of them wants to rebel, but among them, mud and sand flow together — it is hard to tell them apart. The best course for now is simply to hold firm and await relief. The rebels have no reinforcements and no provisions; they will collapse in time. Letting them into the city now adds an unpredictable variable. This general begs my lord to think thrice."

Sun Yuanhua looked at those Liaodong soldiers without speaking. Wang Zheng considered for a moment, then said, "There are still quite a few Liaodong soldiers inside the city. If we let these soldiers outside starve to death or be slaughtered by the rebels, it may damage morale. In this subordinate's view, the majority of these Liaodong soldiers are still good. Even if there are one or two spies among them, just have Assistant Regional Commander Zhang screen them carefully."

Sun Yuanhua's brow smoothed out. He smiled and nodded, saying, "Liangfu speaks reason."

"My lord." Zhang Keda could not help but press urgently, but Sun Yuanhua cut him off with a wave of his hand and said in a tone that brooked no argument, "Regional Commander Zhang, say no more. Whether defending or attacking a city, one must seize the enemy's spirit. If we refuse to let these soldiers who have turned back enter the city, then every soldier in this city will lose heart. Let them in. Have Zhang Dao carefully identify them and keep them under strict guard."

The officers and soldiers of the main-force battalion around them all looked at Zhang Keda. Zhang Keda lowered his head in silence and did not respond to Sun Yuanhua's order. Hearing no movement, Sun Yuanhua turned his head and raged at Zhang Keda, "Does Regional Commander Zhang also intend to defy orders?"

Zhang Keda remained silent for a long moment. Finally, he said to the soldiers and officers around him, "Open the gate and let them in. Search every one of them for hidden messages or weapons. Hold the rest under guard in our barracks."

Zhang Dao said coldly, "Regional Commander Zhang, these are my own soldiers. I will guard them myself. No need to trouble my lord."

Zhang Keda stared at Zhang Dao for a long moment. He now loathed this assistant regional commander who had dragged his main-force battalion into defeat from the bottom of his heart. He cursed under his breath, turned, flicked his sleeves, and left...

After night fell, both inside and outside Dengzhou grew quiet. Neither side harassed the other on this freezing winter night. Martial law had long been imposed within Dengzhou. The whole city was pitch black, with only the lanterns of the night patrol sentries moving through the various streets.

The barracks in the northeast corner of the city were the encampment of Zhang Dao's command. The thirty-odd soldiers who had entered the city during the day were held under guard there. Two large lanterns at the camp gate gave off a dim yellow light. Several soldiers stood guard at the entrance with their hands tucked into their sleeves, practically huddled into balls. This unit came from Pi Island, transferred out only in the ninth month and placed under Zhang Dao's command. Sun Yuanhua intended for them to become the vanguard for the garrison relocation. Since Mao Wenlong was killed in the second year of Chongzhen, the repeated upheavals on Pi Island had left these men like a plate of loose sand, no longer the fierce force that had once roamed Liaodong under Dongjiang Garrison. Especially now that the rebels outside the city also came from Dongjiang Garrison, these men were psychologically unwilling to fight them. When they took the field, they had not a shred of will to fight — hence the great rout outside the city.

Two dark figures emerged from the camp. The Squad Commander on gate duty was about to shout for them to halt when one of them called out the Squad Commander's name first. The Squad Commander immediately shut his mouth. The two dark figures drew close and muttered with him for a moment. The Squad Commander then opened the side gate to let the two out, and they slipped into an alley across the way.

Just as the two left, two more dark figures slipped out from the shadows on either side of the barracks. They followed the direction the two had taken through different alleys. The thick-soled cotton shoes on their feet made their footsteps very soft. They were clearly very familiar with these alleys, able to navigate accurately by the faint backdrop of the accumulated snow. These trackers also paused from time to time to listen for the footsteps of the two ahead, confirming the direction of their pursuit.

The two who had come out of the barracks made their way stealthily to the vicinity of Dengzhou Bridge on the north side. The two stopped at the mouth of an alley. Across from the alley was a courtyard with a lantern bearing the character "Geng" hanging outside. At this moment, the gatehouse was tightly shut, giving it a somewhat sinister air.

One of them stuck his head out. The faint lantern light illuminated his face — it was the squad commander who had entered the city during the day. He looked at the tightly shut gate and revealed a dark, cold smile.

The two observed for a moment, then lightened their steps and crossed the street. The squad commander stepped onto the other man's shoulders and climbed over the outer courtyard wall. The remaining man quickly ran back to the alley mouth, crouched in a corner, and carefully surveyed the surroundings. Detecting no movement, he then hid himself in the deep shadows.

In an alley mouth not far away, there were likewise two men. They were operatives of the Intelligence Bureau's action team. After learning during the day that routed soldiers had entered the city, they had been assigned by Zhang Dong to stake out the barracks and tail any suspicious personnel leaving the camp. Of the two teams that had begun tailing at the same time, one had lost their target. The remaining team had successfully followed them here and had finally discovered a clue. They were very familiar with this residence — it was the home of Geng Zhongming, one of the key targets.

Geng Zhongming was an assistant regional commander of the personal-guard central battalion and had always been closely associated with Kong Youde, Li Jiucheng, and the others. During the Pi Island mutiny this time, his younger brother Geng Zhongyu had been one of the ringleaders. After confirming the news, Sun Yuanhua had reportedly intended to memorialize the court to punish Geng Zhongming and had long since ordered Zhang Dao to place him under house arrest, forbidding him to take half a step outside his residence. The men guarding him were all from Zhang Dao's camp and should at this moment be resting in the gatehouse and side rooms.

The two trackers conferred briefly in mosquito-like whispers. One of them then slipped away quietly along the alley, weaving through streets and lanes, dodging the patrolling soldiers, and heading toward the contact point on Zhenhaimen Avenue...

At the contact point, Zhang Dong was nervously collating intelligence coming in from several sources. He said in a low voice, "The men who went out from Zhang Dao's camp made contact with Geng Zhongming, Chen Guangfu, and Wang Zideng — all officers of the personal-guard battalions, and all from Dongjiang Garrison. These men are surely collaborators from within. Within two days, a major event will occur in Dengzhou."

Wu Rong listened from the side, frowning in thought. He was the captain of the Intelligence Bureau's action team. Because of Zhang Dong's initial scheming against him, he had always been at odds with the man. But Zhou Shifa ruled with strict discipline that allowed no personal feelings, so this was not the time to settle private grudges. After a moment, he said quietly, "What's coming in now is all from tailing operatives. The resident agents have no intelligence confirming this. Until we have confirmation, it's not good for us to send word to my lord Chen."

Zhang Dong's eyes flickered constantly, darting over the several intelligence records. "What if they're doing it so secretly that our resident agents can't gather any intelligence?"

Wu Rong was momentarily at a loss for words. Zhang Dong continued evenly, "There is still the main-force battalion in the city, and also Zhang Dao's command. If word of their plans leaks, they face execution and the extermination of their families. Judging from the intelligence, after those routed soldiers who entered the city to make contact left, men like Geng Zhongming and Chen Guangfu sent no one out their doors. That means none of them went to Sun Yuanhua to report it. In other words, they have all agreed to rise up."

Wu Rong countered, "What if the routed soldiers asked them to help negotiate terms of amnesty?"

"Why would negotiating amnesty require such trouble? Sun Yuanhua has suffered defeat after defeat. Li Jiucheng holds the superior position. He could secure excellent amnesty terms without resorting to such maneuvers. Using routed soldiers as cover to enter the city and contact old Dongjiang men is the act of mounting an attack. Based on the intelligence gathered by our resident agents, Geng Zhongming, Chen Guangfu, and Wang Zideng hold unremarkable positions. In their daily talk, they often express dissatisfaction with Sun Yuanhua. Geng Zhongming, moreover, is under suspicion. They simply do not have the standing to help negotiate amnesty terms. The conditions for rebellion, however — all three of them do have the standing for that."

Wu Rong had to admit that Zhang Dong's analytical ability was superior to his own. He could only say, "It's the timing that's hard to pin down. Only a few made contact. We dare not take anyone alive for questioning — that would surely alert the snake. If Geng Zhongming and the others become suspicious and alarmed, they might abandon their plan."

A smile spread across Zhang Dong's stern face. "Even if we don't seize anyone, Geng Zhongming and the others are already suspicious and alarmed. The longer time drags on, the greater their chance of exposure. They will make their move within two days. The most likely time is tomorrow night."

"If the judgment is wrong, and our Wendeng army moves, it could jeopardize my lord's entire plan. Should we have Wang Bingzhong go probe them?"

"Don't send Wang Bingzhong. He's not as close to Geng Zhongming and the others. Going rashly would only arouse their suspicion." Zhang Dong's expression turned resolute. "In our line of work, we can't rely solely on information. Otherwise, what use are leaders like us? Every time my lord Chen speaks of intelligence, the most important thing is the skill of analysis. My judgment now is that they are about to strike. Once they open the city gates, the forces inside the city will be insufficient to withstand Li Jiucheng's Dongjiang soldiers. No matter what, we must get this intelligence to my lord Chen in advance and ask for his decision."

Just then, there were three soft knocks on the door. Wu Rong opened it to let in an intelligence agent, who reported in a low voice, "My lords, Chen Guangfu has just sent his most beloved concubine away under cover of night to an ordinary residence. He sent his two sons along with her."

Zhang Dong and Wu Rong exchanged a glance, excitement gleaming in both their eyes. Zhang Dong steadied his emotions and said evenly, "Dispatch our most capable men to leave the city immediately through the north gate. The message must reach the armies at Ninghai and Qixia before dark tomorrow."