Chapter 319: Hunters — Part One

About ten li east of Fuzhou City lies a mountain range like a folding screen — this is Dongping Shan, East Screen Mountain. The summit is broad and open; on the slope facing Fuzhou, there is a stretch of steep cliff, then a gentle hillside covered in shrubs and tangled weeds. Starved of rain, under the dazzling summer sunlight it still carries a scorched, withered yellow hue.

From the mountaintop one can see the walls of Fuzhou City. The Fuzhou River winds past five li below the mountain. Though Liaodong is equally parched, this is already the middle-to-lower reaches, where tributaries converge and the water volume remains fairly ample. It should have been able to irrigate many fields, but now the cultivated lands on both banks present a scene of charred black ruin — the handiwork of the Special Operations teams and the scout riders in recent days.

"Burn your wheat and see how long you dog-spawn Jianzhou bandits can haul grain." Bucktooth gazed at the charred black with immense satisfaction. He wore only a cloth wrapped around his head, topped with a pile of weeds, lying motionless in the grass as if he had become part of the earth itself.

Bucktooth chewed on a grass root, a few mosquitoes crawling across his face, but he paid them no mind. He only murmured to Li Tao, who lay prone beside him, "The sun is too vicious, Vice Captain. Let's not stay here too long. The summit behind us is so flat — if the Jianzhou bandits spot us, we won't even have a good place to run."

Li Tao ignored him, observing the official road below the mountain through a cloth-wrapped spyglass. He had been promoted to Vice Captain of the Special Operations Team; Bucktooth was the squad leader of this small unit. Each squad still had twelve men, and this group here, including Li Tao, numbered seven.

The Special Operations Team had suffered severe losses at Dengzhou — the squads there had been cut down by more than half. After post-battle expansion, the team grew to two hundred men, each one picked from a hundred. Over thirty were new Night Scouts from Xuan-Da and Yulin, recruited on their behalf by the Shanxi merchants who had bought tobacco the previous time. Among the other recruits, two were even former bandits from Daze Mountain, selected because they excelled at mountain climbing. The new men had not trained long, and their combat skills could not yet compare with the veteran teams; many still relied on their old experience to fight. So Li Tao adopted the method of mixing new and old in every operation, leading them into action together.

From June into July, the Special Operations Team and the scout riders of the Fourth Mixed Battalion struck out together, clashing repeatedly with the Jianzhou scout riders between Fuzhou and Jinzhou. In this back-and-forth struggle, the Jianzhou bandits began to find it hard to bear. The Dengzhou garrison advanced multiple times to the vicinity of Fuzhou Guard City, burning nearly two thousand mu of wheat, costing Later Jin the greater part of this year's military farm output in Fuzhou.

Not until mid-July, when the Jianzhou bandits reinforced the Fuzhou garrison — including nearly a hundred Bayara of the Plain White Banner and Plain Blue Banner — did they manage to push the Dengzhou garrison's skirmish line back, forcing Li Tao and his men to operate only in stealth.

"Another three hundred or so Fish-Skin Tatars have appeared, banner insignia Plain White, total troop strength roughly around fifteen hundred." Li Tao murmured quietly, while a team member beside him recorded it in a booklet.

Bucktooth spat out a piece of grass root and said in a low voice, "The two squads heading north still haven't returned. Lord Zhu demands we scout at least as far as Gaizhou. I wonder if they can slip through."

"Along the road from Fuzhou, there are still over ten forts along the way. This year they've all begun to have subjugated True Yi stationed in defense, numbers varying. They can only travel along the mountain edges. Half of these subjugated True Yi are Plain Blue Banner, so we know there are at least parts of two banners' forces between Fuzhou and Gaizhou."

Hearing Li Tao's words, Bucktooth said, "Lord Zhu is only worried that the Jianzhou bandits have a large force lying in ambush. Jinzhou is now secure; the line from Hongzui Fort to Guifu Fort has no Jianzhou garrison. If Jianzhou cavalry want to come from the east, they'd have to bring their own fodder. Too few and they're useless; too many and they move slowly. I generally reckon the eastern coast is safe — only the western side is a concern. But if the Jianzhou bandits had a large hidden force, how much fodder would they have to eat out in the wild? They'd also need to light fires to cook. They can hide for a few days, but if they hide too long, they're easy to find. I can track down the old forest where they're hiding just by the smell of horse dung, then burn them all out with one fire."

Li Tao tilted his head slightly. "Enough nonsense. Yesterday, did you tell the other group to record the numbers of men gathering firewood and drawing water, and the number of grain carts entering the city?"

"Relax, I told them everything. Besides the things you mentioned, that group is also to recheck the number of Fuzhou's red-barbarian cannons, and re-scout the Fuzhou River's water level and fordable crossing points tonight."

Li Tao nodded. "These past few days, quite a few more White Armor soldiers have appeared in Fuzhou. Everyone needs to be extra careful. Tonight we'll first return to the hidden camp at Jianzi Shan and wait there for the other two squads to return."

Bucktooth grinned dismissively, revealing several yellow molars. "What's there to fear? I've slipped into Mongol territory dozens of times by myself and never lost my head. These Jianzhou bandits are still the same damn lot. I'm not afraid of the Jianzhou bandits — it's just lying here getting roasted that's so damn stifling."

Bucktooth had just raised his head, squinting to gauge the sun's position, when Li Tao suddenly nudged him with a hand. "There's a convoy of ox carts hauling grain coming. Why are they heading northeast?"

"Who cares why? Only a dozen or so Jianzhou bandits escorting them. Either we hit them, or I follow them to find their camp."

Li Tao studied the scene carefully for a moment, then handed over the spyglass. "I fear it's not that simple. Let's not underestimate the Jianzhou bandits. Take a closer look."

Bucktooth took the spyglass and looked. On the main road along the bank of the Fuzhou River, there was indeed a convoy of ox carts, about a dozen or more, slowly heading northeast. On the carts were things that looked like sacks, while some were covered with weeds.

"Northeast is Heshangmao Mountain, the source of the Fuzhou River. Along the way there's Shajialou, Tumenzi, and Niejiatun — all have water sources, but none of those places can be hidden. Could it be that there really is a hidden force at Heshangmao Mountain?" Bucktooth mused. "But if they wanted secrecy, they could have left by the north gate. Why deliberately go east, and with so few armored soldiers escorting?"

Li Tao listened quietly, but his eyes began scanning the forests around the ox cart convoy. Bucktooth's eyes flickered; he too realized what Li Tao was searching for. Just then, a cloud drifted over, temporarily blocking the scorching sunlight, and the surroundings instantly cooled considerably...

About one li away at the foot of the mountain, a convoy of ox carts creaked and groaned along the main road, guarded by a dozen or so armored soldiers and surplus men. Along the road were several patches of woods. The bondservants driving the carts knew there had been many Deng-Lai soldiers lately and glanced around nervously. After walking a while and seeing no unusual movement in the woods, they continued on their way with relief.

Once the ox cart convoy had passed the outer edge of the woods, the main road fell quiet again. At that moment, the sun poked its head back out, and dappled sunlight fell upon the forest clearing, illuminating some bare, shaved heads. There were over twenty hidden Later Jin soldiers. They too wore no helmets, carrying swords, axes, bows and arrows on their backs, silently dispersed and concealed among the dense branches and leaves, carefully observing the western slope of East Screen Mountain opposite them.

The leader was a White Armor soldier with many scars on his face. His skin was dark, and beneath thick brows, his eyes held a beast-like ferocity. A long scar ran from the corner of his mouth, and his entire left face was pulled askew by this knife scar, making that side of his mouth wider than the other.

"Master Xingna (Note 1), there seems to be movement over there," another armored soldier said in Manchu, pointing into the distance.

Xingna's hawk-like eyes turned toward the southern slope of East Screen Mountain, where grasses and trees swayed across the hillside. He watched carefully for a moment, then shook his head. His hunting life in the mountains since childhood had forged a will like bedrock and keen eyesight; he could even track the fleeing figure of a rabbit through the forest.

"That's no Wendeng soldier — just a clump of withered grass on a small mound."

Having said this, Xingna turned his gaze elsewhere. He had only recently arrived in Fuzhou. Ever since that Deng-Lai force had gained a firm foothold in Jinzhou, they had begun constantly sending out small squads to strike, each time supported and reinforced by nearly a hundred infantry and cavalry. The two sides' scouts had clashed repeatedly in the mountains between the two regions. This Ming army's skirmishers were numerous, their combat skills adept, their schemes and tricks many, and they even had some strange equipment. Under their attacks, Fuzhou's skirmish line had been pushed back again and again.

After the Great Khan mobilized troops to campaign west against the Chahar in early July, the reconnaissance on the Jinzhou side had grown even more frequent. Twice they had even swaggered up to the walls of Fuzhou City in broad daylight. The garrison commanders Duorgon and Manggultai could not afford such humiliation and had to dispatch White Armor reinforcements. In the past two days, they had pushed the enemy back slightly, and Xingna was one of the White Armor soldiers sent as reinforcement.

During the first campaign against the Chahar, Xingna had been responsible for reconnaissance. Beyond Zhangjiakou, he had discovered a Mongol force and lain hidden in wind and snow for four days and three nights, finally making contact with Ajige's unit, then personally leading troops to defeat that Mongol force, capturing most of them. His outstanding performance made him a Bayara whom Duorgon greatly valued, and this time he had been specially dispatched, along with other White Armor soldiers, to Fuzhou to seize back the initiative in battlefield reconnaissance.

Since his arrival, he had already clashed twice with the Deng-Lai soldiers. Leading the dozen-plus White Armor and armored soldiers assigned to him, he had launched a surprise attack on a squad of a dozen or so Deng-Lai scout riders, slaying three while losing one of his own. Though a minor victory, the fighting will of those few Deng-Lai soldiers far exceeded any Ming army he had ever encountered, forcing him to take them seriously.

With the arrival of other Later Jin forces, the Deng-Lai soldiers' scout riders had pulled back. The two sides were now out of contact. Just when the Later Jin soldiers thought they had withdrawn, five armored soldiers were ambushed yesterday, three killed, tightening the Later Jin soldiers' nerves once more.

Now Xingna was not sure whether those Ming soldiers were still nearby, but he knew what those Ming soldiers were trying to scout. So today he had specifically requested the Fuzhou Jalan Ezhen to arrange a convoy of ox carts, pretending to transport grain to some camp, in order to draw out those Deng-Lai Ming army scouts.

The armored soldier from before said in a low voice, "Master Xingna, the Nikan are all cowards. Seeing so many warriors arrive, they've probably already fled."

"Probably?" Xingna stared coldly into the armored soldier's eyes as if looking at a dead thing. The soldier swallowed and dared not respond. The knife scar at the corner of Xingna's mouth twitched as he said, "The Beile sent us here to drive them back, to keep them from having designs on Fuzhou. When the Great Khan returns with the army, we'll deal with them slowly. They are not cowards, and moreover..." Xingna turned his head to stare at the secret eyes of the long hillside. "They are right here. I can feel it."

The armored soldier breathed a sigh of relief and quickly changed the subject. "East Screen Mountain is all withered grass. Should this slave set a fire and smoke them out?"

Xingna did not even bother to answer. The armored soldier sullenly retreated to one side.

Another White Armor soldier from his same village laughed and cursed in a low voice, "Are you a fool? East Screen Mountain is so wide — with our few men, we couldn't possibly burn it all. Even if it all caught fire, once a wildfire starts, the smoke spreads everywhere, and they could just casually find a place to walk away. You think you'd be able to see them? You're still far from knowing how to fight. Just wait for Xingna's orders."

Xingna suddenly spoke. "Ashidalhan, take seven men out of the forest and follow behind the ox cart convoy. Don't go out from here — use the other side of the woods."

The armored soldier acknowledged the order, called up two armored soldiers from his village, went to the rear to fetch the horses, and led them by the bridle, shielding the horses' faces, out the other side of the woods. Then they swaggered onto the main road, following far behind the ox cart convoy.

There were still a dozen or so Later Jin soldiers remaining. They all knew this was bait. These men had long hunted in the mountains and forests and had endured prolonged warfare; they were all from the same village or nearby, and their coordination was extremely high. They all focused intently on observing the opposite slope. But after those men had gone far, the opposite hillside remained utterly still, only gusts of mountain wind blowing, stirring the barren grasses across the slope to ripple like waves.

The White Armor soldier who had spoken earlier came closer. Seeing Xingna's calm expression, he hesitated, then still asked, "Xingna, it seems they are not nearby. They must have returned to Jinzhou, at least they are not on East Screen Mountain. Why don't we first return to Fuzhou and scout Shuangtaizi Shan tomorrow?"

"No, they are definitely here. Though I cannot see them, I am certain." Xingna laughed coldly. "They came from Jinzhou and have been scouting nearby for over ten days straight. Yet they can repeatedly ambush our warriors. They must have a hidden resting place nearby. I want to follow them, and once I find that place, then mobilize the Fuzhou main army to surround and annihilate them in one stroke, ending their harassment once and for all."

The White Armor soldier looked doubtfully at the opposite hillside. He suspected Xingna might be making everyone wait in vain. If there were Deng-Lai soldiers on the opposite side, their first step should be to attack the ox cart convoy. Even if they suspected a trap, Xingna had already sent out eight men — he had put down a considerable stake. By all logic, the Ming army should think the ambush had left, and then follow the ox carts to scout the grain's destination. That was the highest priority for any scout. Yet now there was not the slightest movement.

The White Armor soldier hesitated. "Then should we now..."

"We wait. Let's see who cannot endure it."