Chapter 283: Jinzhou

The conch horns of the Later Jin troops sounded their droning notes. The jiala-ezhen's banner shifted northward. Some White Armor soldiers and boshiho howled hoarsely, ordering the others nearby to follow the main banner. There were still over three hundred Later Jin soldiers trapped between the Wendeng infantry and cavalry. On the flanks, over a hundred Later Jin skirmishers who had been fighting with gusto earlier now saw their momentum utterly collapse after the Ming army's charge, engaging in fruitless pursuits with the Ming skirmish cavalry on both wings. As the infantry square closed in, some Mongol skirmishers began fleeing far toward the distant edges of the flanks.

The true Jurchen among the skirmishers were more tenacious. Ignoring the entanglement of the Ming skirmish cavalry, they dismounted under fire and attacked the flanks of the Wendeng cavalry formation with foot bows. Knowing that long-range shots did little damage to scale armor, they all aimed at the mounts, causing seven or eight men on the edges of the Wendeng cavalry formation to be shot down.

The hundred-pace distance vanished quickly. Amid the shouting of men and neighing of horses, another round of cavalry collision ensued. The jiala-ezhen led a concentrated assault with the two hundred cavalrymen he had rallied. These battle-hardened veterans had all learned from the previous encounter, maintaining greater spacing front to back to avoid being jammed into a mass by the chaos of the collision.

The jiala-ezhen personally led the charge, with a group of White Armor soldiers as the spearhead, trading lives to force open a gap. The other Wendeng cavalrymen still maintained their formation as they brushed past, refusing to engage them in a tangled fight. At such high crossing speeds, the Later Jin soldiers behind dared not directly face their edge. Only the cavalry on the fringes loosed a volley of dense light arrows with their horse bows, and their accuracy was terribly poor.

The fourth rank of Wendeng skirmish cavalry parted from the front and fired a chaotic volley at the Later Jin column with their short guns. The Later Jin troops answered with another volley of light arrows. The main formation then broke away and fled north without pausing for a moment.

The three ranks of cavalry in the Wendeng main formation did not slow down. They swept across the hillside like an iron comb. The Later Jin soldiers who had been dragged into the formation by the Wendeng skirmish cavalry were now utterly helpless, nearly all reduced to fighting as isolated individuals. The three walls of cavalry swept away the remaining Later Jin cavalry in the center, then withdrew northward from the battlefield, allowing the infantry coming up behind to move in and finish the job.

The two-hundred-odd men and horses of the Later Jin breakthrough force fled north in utter disarray — the same direction from which they had come with such imposing momentum just a quarter-hour earlier. The scattered Later Jin soldiers on the flanks, seeing themselves abandoned, dared not remain no matter how tough they were. They all leaped onto their horses and fled for their lives. The Mongol soldiers ran even faster. As early as the completion of the first charge, they had realized the situation was dire. Many Mongol soldiers, awed by the Ming army's unstoppable ferocity, had already veered around the flanks early and fled north.

Several staff officers from the central army spurred their horses out and loudly relayed orders to the scouting cavalry commander. All of the Ming army's skirmish cavalry abandoned the scattered Jianzhou bandits fleeing on the flanks and pursued the main Jianzhou force along the official road. The Fourth Company of the reserve battalion ran to the battlefield. Ignoring the pleas for mercy from the nearby wounded Later Jin soldiers, they killed them one by one, then began carrying away Wendeng's own wounded.

The cavalry battalion withdrew to the northern slope and began reforming their ranks. The two rounds of head-on charges had downed over two hundred and seventy Later Jin cavalrymen. The Jianzhou bandits' main formation, which had come on so aggressively, had lost over half its strength in the blink of an eye. Adding in the losses among the skirmishers, this Jianzhou force had lost nearly half its number, and those who remained were intent only on fleeing for their lives. For the short term, it was no longer an organized combat force.

The cavalry battalion soldiers howled with excitement. The Ming cavalry battalion had suffered over a hundred casualties and fallen riders. The thin three-rank line had placed every man in a state of imminent engagement at all times. Every man had twice walked the edge of life and death. Those who survived naturally needed to release their tension.

After a brief moment of relief, Zhu Guobin ordered the sole remaining bugler to sound assembly and awaited Chen Xin's command. Sure enough, a relay rider arrived quickly. He shouted to Zhu Guobin, "Lord Chen's order: Cavalry Battalion Company Commander Zhu is to immediately reform ranks and pursue. Coordinate with the scouting cavalry to bite the enemy's tail and prevent them from entering the city."

Zhu Guobin acknowledged the order and led the central army banner on a ride along the formation, loudly issuing orders to his banner captains. After completing one circuit, he found that only eight banner captains remained. Whether the other four were wounded or dead was still unknown. The ranks had also grown sparse, with each banner's formation varying in length. He had seen death and injury too many times and had no time for sorrow now. He temporarily appointed several squad leaders from those banner units as banner captains, filling out the command structure.

Although the uneven organization impaired their combat effectiveness, their morale was now soaring. Given the arrogance of the Later Jin troops, they must have come with their full force this time. Today's numbers had already exceeded those unreliable intelligence reports. Zhu Guobin believed that the main force of the Jinzhou Jianzhou bandits had been shattered. Now they needed to expand the victory in pursuit.

The scouting cavalry had initially reported a group of bondservants. These men were useless in field battle but could inflict casualties on the Wendeng battalion when defending a city. They had no horses. At the very least, this group had to be wiped out outside the city. If only a few hundred demoralized true Jurchen remained, they would not be able to hold such a large city.

A marching horn sounded. The cavalry battalion's ranks fell silent and in order proceeded northward in pursuit...

Around the battlefield, soldiers from the Fourth Company were coming and going, carrying Wendeng's wounded and dead twenty paces away, where the medical corpsmen tended to them. Although they lacked more effective medicines, as long as wounds were properly cleaned, their survival rate would be far higher than that of other armies in this era.

With a squelch, Zhong Laosi thrust his banner spear into the chest of a wounded Later Jin soldier. The Later Jin soldier writhed in agony for a moment, then finally went still. Zhong Laosi brazenly planted a foot on his chest and pulled out the banner spear. The blood from the Later Jin soldier's chest sprayed out, spattering onto his shoes.

"Your mother!" Zhong Laosi kicked the Jianzhou bandit in the head. Guan Dadi, who had just carried over a wounded Wendeng soldier, laughed foolishly and said, "He's already dead, Company Commander. Why are you kicking him?"

"I just like kicking him a couple of times." Zhong Laosi rolled up his trouser leg, grabbed the Later Jin soldier's sleeve, and wiped haphazardly. "Got my freshly changed pants dirty again."

Hearing this, Guan Dadi also came over and kicked the body a few times randomly. Zhong Laosi glared at him and cursed, "What's the point of kicking a dead man? Go check if any of the others are playing dead."

"Oh, already poked them all." Guan Dadi wiped the sweat from his forehead and said.

"You dog-fucker are fast." Zhong Laosi cursed.

Guan Dadi swallowed a mouthful of saliva, looked around to make sure there were no more wounded Wendeng cavalrymen, stopped, and asked Zhong Laosi, "Company Commander, tell me... if a cavalry battalion came at us like that, could we hold?"

Zhong Laosi curled his lip. "How could it be the same? When we stand in several ranks, there are at least three or four long spears braced forward. During combined drills, they tried it — the horses just refused to move forward no matter what. Cavalry versus cavalry is different. No matter how dense, there are always gaps to pass through."

"Then what if the Jianzhou bandits dismounted to fight on foot and shot at us with foot bows?"

Zhong Laosi chuckled and shouted loudly, "Foot bows fired in an arc have no accuracy. Fired level, you get two volleys at most at fifty paces. A cavalry formation is on you in an instant. With bows still in their hands, wouldn't they be asking to die? If the Jianzhou bandits want to fight, they either rely on having more cavalry and charge head-on, or they dismount and form ranks with great blades and long spears. Then it's time to send in our infantry and use the tactics I suggested to Lord Chen. Foot bows count for shit. Can they match our three-jin cannons and firelocks? Their cavalry battalion has already done all the fighting. Where's our infantry supposed to go to eat?"

"Zhong Laosi, shut your dog mouth."

Zhong Laosi turned his head and saw it was Company Commander Zheng Sanhu riding over on horseback. Back when Wang Zhangfu was squad leader, Zheng Sanhu had been a corporal, one rank above him. Later he had risen all the way to company commander of the reserve battalion. By his reckoning, now only he and Zhou Shao'er were the lowest-ranked — one a combat soldier banner captain, the other a reserve battalion company commander, two or three ranks lower than the others.

Zhong Laosi could only salute and say, "Yes! Awaiting the company commander's orders."

Zheng Sanhu did not dismount. After returning the salute, he said loudly, "Once the wounded have been transported, immediately assemble and move out. March to the walls of Jinzhou and set up camp."

Zhong Laosi asked, "What about here?"

"Leave it to those auxiliary soldiers." Zheng Sanhu was about to leave when Zhong Laosi suddenly asked, "Company Commander, why are you running back and forth delivering messages yourself? Where's your relay rider?"

Zheng Sanhu glared at him in annoyance. "Apart from you company commanders, everyone with a horse has been reassigned to the pursuit. If I don't come deliver the orders, who will? Enough damn nonsense. Once the wounded are transported, form up and move out."

After Zheng Sanhu spurred his horse away, Zhong Laosi sent a guard to relay the order. While waiting for the soldiers to return and form ranks, the Second Combat Company, assembled on the southern slope, passed neatly across the battlefield from the flank, loudly chanting cadence as they hurried north. Chen Xin's central army banner was among them.

Guan Dadi said enviously, "Company Commander, the combat soldiers are still the fiercest."

Zhong Laosi swept his gaze over the Jianzhou bandits and dead horses covering the ground, gritted his teeth, and said, "What's so fierce about combat soldiers? It's not like I haven't been one. Clearly the cavalry are the fierce ones. Watching this cavalry battle made my heart pound wildly — worse than when I was courting my wife."

The two had just finished speaking when a burst of shrill howling came from the mountaintop. Both men shuddered in fright and turned to look. It was that group of Dongjiang soldiers in tattered clothes. Faces contorted, clutching their crude weapons, they surged like a tide through the gaps in the Fourth Company's ranks. When they found a wounded Jianzhou bandit, they hacked and slashed at him madly. Those who didn't find one immediately flipped over the piled corpses to search for wounded Later Jin soldiers underneath. When they truly couldn't find any wounded, they hacked and smashed at the corpses in a frenzy, chunks of flesh flying from the mass of bodies. Others without weapons tore at the clothes on the Later Jin corpses with savage expressions, pulling them onto their own bodies without caring that they were still dripping blood.

Zhong Laosi held his hands protectively over his chest. Only after a long while did he cautiously say, "Combat soldiers and cavalry aren't the fierce ones. These auxiliary soldiers are the fiercest."...

At the first quarter of the shen hour in the afternoon, the main force of the Wendeng battalion reached Jinzhou and surrounded the east, south, and west gates, setting up camp.

The fleeing Later Jin soldiers ran for their lives. Some were cut down along the way by the Wendeng scouting cavalry. Others, whose horses lacked the stamina, left the official road and fled into the hilly areas on either side. Still others, pursued too closely by the Wendeng scouting cavalry, could not enter the city in time and fled toward Fuzhou instead. Fewer than two hundred Later Jin soldiers made it into the city. Together with the small number of old and weak left behind to guard it, the total was only three to four hundred — barely over a hundred men to distribute along each wall.

Chen Xin led his guard detachment on a circuit around the southern wall. Zhu Guobin and Dai Zhenggang accompanied him to inspect the city. He found that the walls of Jinzhou were unexpectedly tall and imposing, far beyond comparison with the large estate that was Lushun. The wall height, like that of the great cities of the north, was a full three zhang and five chi. He secretly rejoiced that the Later Jin jiala-ezhen had been arrogant. If he had turtled up and refused to come out, taking the city in a short time would have been difficult.

This city was originally the seat of the Jinzhou Guard under the jurisdiction of the Liaodong Regional Military Commission — a purely military guard, established in the eighth year of the Hongwu reign. The city of Jinzhou itself predated the guard battalion. It was built in the fourth year of the Hongwu reign by Guard Commanders Ma Yun and Ye Wang, and faced with brick by Guard Commander Wei Fu. It measured five li and two hundred and sixteen paces in circumference, stood three zhang and five chi high, with a moat one zhang and seven chi deep and six zhang and five chi wide. In the Ming dynasty, it was a major city in the Liaonan region, its scale far exceeding that of Fuzhou, which was also one of the Southern Four Guards.

Jinzhou lies at the northernmost end of the Jinzhou Isthmus, also its narrowest point. Its strategic position in Liaonan is extremely important. Controlling this place protects the entire peninsula behind it. If this place were held in the hands of the Later Jin, Lushun's usefulness would be greatly diminished. The Wendeng battalion would be unable to raid Liaodong by land. Chen Xin's Liaonan strategy would then be reduced to the same hit-and-run coastal raids as Mao Wenlong. Without docks for seaborne landings, it would be impossible to deploy large numbers of cavalry, and infantry mobility would be grossly insufficient, preventing deep penetration inland.

Moreover, since the eighth year of the Tianming reign, the Later Jin had slaughtered nearly all the Han civilians along the coast of the Southern Four Guards, leaving only a few strongpoints garrisoned by the managed personnel of various banners — essentially the Later Jin's border defense forces. If Chen Xin simply shipped over infantry, there would be nothing worthwhile for them to raid outside the city, and they would be unable to take the city by assault.

Nurhaci, with his ten great achievements, used massacre and forced relocation to turn the prosperous lands of the Southern Four Guards into a wilderness devoid of human presence for a thousand li. Even Gaizhou further north was not repopulated until the sixth year of the Tiancong reign. This tactic of banning the sea and exterminating human nature was indeed effective in preventing Ming army infiltration and harassment. From this, one can also see that Kangxi's later sea ban had an excellent genetic heritage.

Thus Jinzhou was an equally critical link in the Liaonan strategy. Seizing Jinzhou would allow the Wendeng battalion to establish military farms across the entire Jinzhou Isthmus, reducing logistical dependence on Denglai. The Later Jin would then need to set up defenses across a much wider area, thereby achieving Chen Xin's goal of pinning down Liaonan.

But Jinzhou was several li from the sea. If Chen Xin stirred up too much trouble and Huang Taiji became truly enraged, should the entire Later Jin army come, they would dig trenches and lay siege just the same. Chen Xin would then be forced into a decisive battle, and he simply did not have the strength for that yet. If it truly came to that, Zu Dashou would not attack Shenyang to rescue the Wendeng battalion, and Huang Long would be even less likely to come from Pi Island to relieve Jinzhou. Neither of these two got along well with Chen Xin; they might even clap their hands and cheer.

So Chen Xin was still hesitating. If he committed too few troops, holding a single fortress would be meaningless. The purpose of a fortress is to provide a base of support; the troops within are the core that controls and secures the surrounding area. If they merely huddled inside a turtle shell, it would not serve the function of a stronghold. The vast majority of fortresses also cannot completely cut off roads. Later Jin troops would always find routes to bypass the city and raid the rear, leaving the Jinzhou Isthmus without any barrier. If too many troops were garrisoned at Jinzhou, withdrawal would be difficult. Once besieged by a large Later Jin army, the entire Wendeng battalion would be thrown into a passive position — just like Dalinghe this time.

Zhu Guobin looked at Chen Xin's expression and seemed to know what he was worried about. He said in a low voice, "My lord, the Jianzhou bandits have been besieging Dalinghe for half a year. No matter what, they lack the strength to campaign with their full army again this year. The troops they can draw away will number no more than three to five thousand at most. We can handle that."

Chen Xin nodded and lowered his head in thought. Dai Zhenggang took over and asked, "If the sea freezes in winter, the Jianzhou bandits can certainly cross over the ice. Then the hundred and twenty li behind us would have no base of support."

"They can cross over the ice, but they won't be far from shore. In practice, it's no different from bypassing the city. And by winter, the autumn grain will already be harvested, so it won't matter if they come. We'll station a detachment at Jinzhou to hold the official road securely, then build a fort between Lushun and Jinzhou and station a cavalry detachment there to provide mutual relief. That will thwart enemy raids. If the enemy comes with a large army, we'll abandon Jinzhou and fall back to defend Lushun."

Dai Zhenggang mused, "Garrisoning troops like that would require at least three thousand men, plus several thousand local military households. The land between Jinzhou and Lushun has all been abandoned for many years. Don't expect much harvest for a year or two. In that case, shipping grain from Dengzhou would be quite burdensome."

Chen Xin looked up and said, "For now, we'll go with Guobin's plan. But the fort in the middle doesn't need to be built too high or thick — just enough to serve as a cavalry station and defend against enemy cavalry raids. A garrison of over three thousand is necessary. You needn't worry about troop quotas either. With the suppression of the Dengzhou mutineers and this cavalry victory, we have several hundred Jianzhou heads. Guobin, Zhenggang, and Lu Chuanzong — I intend to submit merit reports for the three of you, appointing you as Vice Regional Commander of Lushun, Assistant Regional Commander of Wendeng, and Vice Regional Commander of the Qibing Battalion, respectively."

Zhu Guobin and Dai Zhenggang were both overjoyed and hurriedly expressed their thanks. With these several hundred Jianzhou heads from today, Chen Xin's promotion to Regional Commander of Dengzhou was a certainty. They also knew that they had gained a great deal of land this time, and their power would surely expand throughout Denglai. Now with Lushun added, splitting the troops into separate garrisons after expansion was only natural, and it would also ease the logistical difficulties.

With Chen Xin himself being promoted to Regional Commander, he naturally had to find opportunities for promotion for those below him. The Wendeng battalion had expanded once at the beginning of the year, but only by adding a reserve battalion. The combat troops had remained at the scale of the third year of the Chongzhen reign. After this expansion, the number of troops commanded by each officer would also increase. Officers naturally wished to command more troops. Zhu Guobin and the others had in fact been hoping for this all along; they just hadn't felt it appropriate to ask Chen Xin about it.

"Guobin is a Liaodong man. I intend to appoint you as Vice Regional Commander of Lushun. Zhenggang, you will be Assistant Regional Commander of Wendeng. Although the rank may seem lower, within our Wendeng battalion, you will be of equal standing, each commanding a combat battalion."

"Understood." Neither man had any objection to Chen Xin's arrangement.

The Wendeng battalion was a reinforcement battalion, so it would certainly be under an Assistant Regional Commander. Although that was one rank lower than the other two, even a fool knew what status garrisoning Wendeng carried. No one would think that the Assistant Regional Commander of Wendeng was lower than the Vice Regional Commander of the Qibing Battalion.

Chen Xin had also given the matter thought before making this arrangement. Zhu Guobin, Dai Zhenggang, and Lu Chuanzong were the original core of the army and the men with the most seniority. Dai Zhenggang was somewhat less driven by ambition. Their command abilities varied; the most outstanding was probably Zhu Guobin, but after several years of tempering, the other two were also competent in command.

Chen Xin's own plans for the future army were vast, but first he had to digest the fruits of this victory and absorb the refugees who came to join them. With a large source of recruits, he would expand the total troop strength to around twenty thousand, and also form a tiered structure of combat troops, reserves, and militia. The combat troops would handle major operations and possess external maneuver capability. The reserves would still rely on the fort-and-farm system and needed rapid mobilization capability. The militia would come from the remaining farming households and workshops, responsible for defense and logistics in internal operations, and after short-term intensive training, would be able to assume auxiliary troop functions in external maneuvers.

In addition, functional departments such as military law, logistics, and training would remain divided by role, and a staff officer position would be added at the Company Commander level to provide corresponding support to the commanding officer. According to the imperial court's system of checks and balances between higher and lower ranks, although he was the Dengzhou Regional Commander, he could not control the pay and provisions of the Mobile Corps Commanders and Assistant Regional Commanders below him; his usual orders carried no weight, and he could only command the other units during wartime. Therefore, Chen Xin had to control the detached garrison forces through these functional departments, and then control all the soldiers' families and fixed assets through the fortified villages — thus the entire system would be as stable as Mount Tai. This system would generate a large number of positions; once these few people were assigned, the rest would be easy to arrange.

For Chen Xin, the hardest part was how to conceal his own system beneath the imperial court's system. Correspondingly, every officer would have a dual identity: one being their court military rank, and the other their position within the internal system. The local superiors in Dengzhou would more or less notice the discrepancies, but given his current good relations with Lu Zhi and Wang Tingxiang, a tacit understanding between them was feasible.

After Chen Xin finished speaking, he smiled and said, "These matters are still early. You all know how the court handles affairs — nothing gets done in less than two or three months. For now, we should first take this city."

Zhu Guobin's unit was cavalry, so Dai Zhenggang naturally knew that storming the city was his own task. He quickly said, "The city of Jinzhou is five li and two hundred-odd paces in circumference. The Jianzhou Bandits plus their bondservants only number three to five hundred men — fewer than a hundred per side. My battalion has over two thousand men, plus auxiliaries exceeding thirty-five hundred. We can pin down two sides and assault one side with full force."

At that moment, Liu Pojun came over and said, "My lord, the cavalry battalion has captured over three hundred bondservants. What should we do with those people?"

Chen Xin looked at the sparse Later Jin soldiers on the battlements and smiled faintly. "Aren't these bondservants the ones who make the shield carts for the Tatars? Have them start building immediately. Get the tunneling equipment ready as well. Tomorrow, let them push the shield carts forward to dig at the city wall. Tell them: whoever builds a shield cart pushes it himself. If you want to stay alive, make it sturdy."

Dai Zhenggang shouted, "The Second General Unit will certainly break the city in one assault tomorrow."

Chen Xin shook his head. "We haven't practiced scaling walls with massed troops; we may not match the other units in that. Gather volunteers from those Lushun auxiliaries, give them the clothes and armor captured today, and tell them: those who perform exceptionally well will be given priority when conscription begins."