Chapter 330: Clearing Operations

Chen Xin spurred his horse onward, crossing the fertile land between the Langu River and the Fuzhou River. To the south were over a thousand mounts left behind by the Long Qibing, guarded by a hundred or so cavalry auxiliaries.

The Later Jin troops on the opposite bank of the Fuzhou River were retreating. The Ming cavalry force had been reduced to just over three hundred men, while the Plain Blue Banner cavalry numbered over seven hundred, plus the more than four hundred armored horsemen and Bayara that Dorgon had regrouped. They were not routing but withdrawing in good order. Many of the scattered Bordered White Banner foot soldiers, having seized a moment to catch their breath, grabbed horses and fled in disorder through the gap on the western side.

Chen Xin could not wait for the rearward First Company Command. He led his guard detachment and Liu Pojun's troops, galloping at full speed. At the crossing point, two garrison soldiers held small flags, marking the ford's location for Chen Xin. He was the first to charge into the river; his warhorse surged forward, its hooves kicking up sheets of spray. The two standard-bearers behind him were powerfully built, gripping the flagpoles tightly. Above his head, Chen Xin's sixteen-foot Regional Commander's red banner and the Flying Tiger Army flag streamed high.

The fine horse beneath Chen Xin carried him up the riverbank in a single leap, entering the corpse-strewn battlefield.

"Ten thousand victories!" "Ten thousand victories!"

The Regional Commander's red banner, fluttering in the wind, drew tidal cheers from the Dengzhou soldiers on the battlefield. In their daily lives, the constant lectures ceaselessly shaped Chen Xin's glorious image. The Flying Tiger Army flags visible everywhere in the camps stirred the soldiers' sense of honor. These refugees, gathered from all corners, had found a chance to settle down and make a living in Dengzhou. When they walked the streets in uniform, they met with looks of approval. These soldiers felt true dignity and honor, and the Regional Commander before them was the man who had brought all this. Now, on a battlefield after a bloody fight, seeing the familiar army flag and their commander filled them with both warmth and excitement.

Chen Xin halted behind the ford's square formation and raised his right hand in salute to the nearby Long Qibing formation, drawing an even more fervent response from the soldiers. Liu Pojun came ashore behind Chen Xin, his face flushed with excitement.

Amid the surging cheers, the Plain Blue Banner cavalry dared not linger. They were hastily passing the right flank of the Tianyou Army, retreating northward. Zhong Lao's Fourth Company had just arrived; the musketeers on both flanks fired two volleys, covering the engagement.

The company commander of the Mounted Infantry Battalion hurried over to salute and report on the battlefield situation. Chen Xin had already received multiple patrol reports en route and had seen the battlefield situation with his own eyes as he approached. Without waiting for the company commander to speak, he pointed directly at the Tianyou Army's position. "Rout that force and clear the western side for the Southern Route Army to pass."

The company commander immediately turned back and dispatched another of Zhong Lao's companies toward the Tianyou Army's position. They had originally been able to exchange fire with Zhong Lao's Fourth Company, but as the other Jianzhou Bandits retreated, the Tianyou Army's morale crumbled, and their formation gradually fell into disarray. When the Ming cavalry closed in, the Tianyou Army instantly collapsed, fleeing northward like a nest of disturbed wasps. Under the threat of enemy flanking cavalry, Zhong Lao's square formation troops did not break formation to pursue; they merely advanced in formation, their speed naturally no match for the fleeing Tianyou Army, and their kills were few.

Tan Shen's cavalry battalion, now reduced to just over three hundred men, executed a short-range charge against the Tianyou Army before pulling back, again because of the Plain Blue Banner cavalry arrayed to the northwest. Once the Tianyou Army's routed soldiers had fled far, that cavalry force still stood its ground, only beginning a disciplined, slow withdrawal northward when the square formation drew near.

By this time, no organized Jianzhou Bandit units remained on the southern part of the battlefield. Zhu Guobin arrived first with the remaining cavalry from the rear, followed by Wang Zhangfu leading his guards.

"The Fourth Battalion fought bravely!" Chen Xin laughed heartily to Zhu Guobin. Seeing Wang Zhangfu approach, he praised him as well.

Zhu Guobin said urgently, "My lord, the Jianzhou Bandits are likely about to withdraw."

Chen Xin nodded, pointing to a Jianzhou Bandit cavalry force to the northwest. "Today, their courage has failed them. A major pitched battle will not happen. Right now, we must do our utmost to expand our gains and take more heads. But we lack cavalry, and their large cavalry units are covering the flanks. Neither infantry nor cavalry can pursue rashly. Wang Zhangfu, deploy your two company commands and push north to drive off the Jianzhou Bandit cavalry."

Zhu Guobin immediately said, "There are still many true Jurchen routed troops in the hills to the west, likely several hundred. Once the Jianzhou Bandit cavalry retreats north, I wish to lead the cavalry and mounted infantry to block the mountain passes on the western side."

Wang Zhangfu hesitated for a moment, then said, "Should the cavalry stay to cover the infantry? If we charge twice more, coordinating infantry and cavalry, we could keep more of the Plain Blue Banner here and take more heads from those Han traitor infantry."

"Let the Plain Blue Banner go. Concentrate all efforts on striking the Bordered White Banner's routed troops." Through his intelligence network, Chen Xin had some understanding of the Later Jin power structure. Although the most secret matters were unknown to him, the antagonism between Manggūltai and Huang Taiji was no secret. Keeping Manggūltai around would certainly cause plenty of trouble for Huang Taiji. Coupled with his own wariness toward Dorgon, he made a swift decision. "The Plain Blue Banner are all cavalry; we cannot trap them. Wang Zhangfu, your square formation infantry will press the Plain Blue Banner along the main road, forcing them far from this area. Zhu Guobin, you will block those mountain passes to prevent routed troops from escaping west back to Fuzhou. Once the Guards First Company Command arrives, I will dispatch them to the hilly area for mopping-up operations. Execute immediately."

Zhu Guobin and Wang Zhangfu hurriedly accepted their orders and left. Chen Xin looked around. The battlefield was littered with the dead and wounded; scattered weapons and armor lay everywhere. On the western side, many masterless warhorses had run loose, most of them mounts scattered when the Jianzhou Bandits' Bordered White Banner infantry were broken, with others left behind after the cavalry engagements on both sides.

"My lord, there are at least nearly a thousand warhorses. The cavalry can expand again."

"The cavalry suffered heavy losses this time. After this battle, they'll likely be down to half strength." Chen Xin said calmly, "But expanding the cavalry is a certainty. If we'd had fifteen hundred cavalry this time, not a single one of Dorgon's men would have escaped, and we would have kept at least half of those two Han traitor armies here."

Liu Pojun said regretfully, "It's just that Li Jiucheng and Kong Youde got away again."

Chen Xin smiled lightly. "Troops whose courage is broken—what harm is there in letting them go? From now on, they will have no fighting spirit before our Dengzhou Garrison. Keeping them around to help with propaganda inside the Later Jin isn't a bad thing."...

The two company commands of the Southern Route Army deployed in sequence and advanced north along the main road. The Later Jin cavalry maintained a distance of several hundred paces, covering the retreat of the scattered infantry toward Fuzhou. Before the Guards First Command arrived, the Mounted Infantry Battalion had already moved three hundred horses across the river and followed the cavalry toward the western hilly area to seal off the mountain passes.

After the Guards First Company Command reached the battlefield, Chen Xin dispatched one battalion to conduct clearing operations in the western hills. The combat troops, following Dengzhou's unique combat group model, were divided into twelve-man squads, each with six cold-weapon fighters in a small three-man formation and six musketeers. Dozens of combat groups formed a long skirmish line, sweeping and clearing along the hillsides. The remaining battalion moved northwest of the official road to prevent the Jianzhou Bandit cavalry from supporting the western side.

After the main force departed, the remaining Long Qibing began clearing the battlefield. They put a finishing shot into every Jianzhou Bandit, dead or wounded. Medical corpsmen from each unit busied themselves across the field, rescuing the Dengzhou Garrison's own wounded.

The sun was now sinking in the west. Chen Xin, leading his guard detachment, toured the battlefield. Where the pike engagement had taken place, corpses lay piled in layers. Chen Xin could imagine the ferocity of that moment. The combat power the Later Jin armored soldiers unleashed in times of crisis was indeed formidable. Just like the battle on Shenmi Island, the pike formation's musketeer NCOs had only begun training in close combat after that fight. The original intent was to deal with short-weapon fighters who got too close, but their first battle had pitted them against a Jianzhou Bandit pike formation.

Some auxiliaries carefully lifted the bodies of Dengzhou soldiers and laid them in rows along the riverbank. Chen Xin made a rough count: on the mounted infantry side alone, there were already over two hundred corpses and over a hundred wounded, not counting cavalry losses. The cavalry dead were scattered far and wide and had not yet been gathered here.

The Jianzhou Bandits had left even more dead on the field. Most of their wounded from the fighting had also been killed by now. Corpses stretched unbroken southward from the pike battle site. The western side held mainly the bodies of armored horsemen, more scattered in comparison. Chen Xin estimated the Bordered White Banner's dead at around nine hundred, roughly three hundred of them armored horsemen. There were also nearly a thousand horses around the battlefield and countless weapons on the ground. If they could trap the several hundred routed foot soldiers on the western side, then the Bordered White Banner would essentially be half-crippled.

The Bordered White Banner had been reorganized from Nurhaci's two Yellow Banners. It had about thirty niru in total, five or six more than the Plain Blue Banner. Most of these were powerful niru, generally able to field three hundred able-bodied men, with the largest niru even having five hundred. The Intelligence Bureau estimated the Bordered White Banner's able-bodied male population at over nine thousand.

Nearly half the corpses on the ground wore armor of fairly fine quality, likely elite armored soldiers of the Bordered White Banner. Others, wearing cotton armor, might be surplus males of the banner. If most of these casualties belonged to Dorgon's fifteen niru, then Chen Xin would have reason to worry about Dorgon's future standing.

As for the Ujen Cooha and the Tianyou Army, Chen Xin had watched their collapse from a distance. The bondservants in the Ujen Cooha were the least rebellious of the Liaodong Han people. Expecting such men to fight to the death on a battlefield was like climbing a tree to catch fish. Even the Tianyou Army far surpassed them. In the future, they need not be regarded as a threatening force.

From the western hills came the sporadic crack of gunfire; the clearing operation had begun. To the north, the Plain Blue Banner cavalry retreated farther and farther. The Dengzhou square formation advanced to the narrowest point near the hills and halted to deploy. The Guards Battalion combat company that had been screening the northwest was also committed to the clearing operation.

Chen Xin said to Liu Pojun, who was accompanying him, "Have all those staff officers go and finish off the wounded. Taking heads can wait for now. The cavalry and Long Qibing fought very hard this time, but the new recruits in the other company commands have basically done nothing. When the time comes, pick out the new recruits who haven't seen combat and have them do the head-taking."

"Understood." Liu Pojun knew Chen Xin's consistent style: he wanted to make use of everything. Even the matter of taking heads was meant to give the new recruits battlefield experience.

Chen Xin glanced at the sun and said to Liu Pojun, "Once the Jianzhou Bandits retreat to Fuzhou, they will certainly shut the gates and stay inside. We'll have to fight for a few days regardless and see how the Jianzhou Bandits react."

Liu Pojun replied, "Our campaign is progressing more smoothly than anticipated. I originally thought the Jianzhou Bandits wouldn't head south. Today is only the second day, and we have already heavily damaged the Bordered White Banner and routed two Han traitor forces. Even the Plain Blue Banner is likely terrified. With our main forces combined, our strength exceeds five thousand. The Later Jin forces in Fuzhou will certainly not dare to come out for a field battle again. They are bound to send to Shenyang for help. The Jianzhou Bandits still have part of the Bordered Red Banner at Haizhou, but their numbers are probably not large. The rest of their assembled forces are all near Shenyang. If the Dongjiang Garrison sorties on schedule as agreed, the Shenyang troops will need to defend Shenyang. Once they confirm Fuzhou's urgent plea for help, assembling the armored soldiers of the other banners will take at least three days, and reaching Fuzhou will take several more. We will have at least five or six days to try attacking Fuzhou."

Chen Xin looked down at the ground, calculating silently for a moment, then raised his head. "We'll fight for three days first. Let the Jianzhou Bandit banners mobilize, drain their manpower, and disrupt their farming season as much as possible. Supply for the troops must be guaranteed during these three days."

Liu Pojun was thoroughly familiar with the plan and answered immediately, "Contingency plans are in place for supply. Once the main army reaches Fuzhou, we'll encamp along the Fuzhou River. Supply will be completed by water route, using foot-boats and small sand-junks to carry grain. We'll draft sailors and auxiliaries to tow the boats upstream to the encampment, saving a great deal of manpower and animal power. On the return trip, the boats will carry back captured weapons and Jianzhou Bandit heads. Supply won't be a problem. It's just the siege..."

Chen Xin nodded and smiled. "Having a water route is indeed convenient. As for Fuzhou City itself, it's not important. Our objective has always been to strike at the Later Jin's strength, especially the Jurchen Eight Banners. It's true we've never assaulted a city before, but we've drilled it since the Jinzhou campaign. Everything is hard at the beginning; once we're familiar with it, it'll be easier to attack. This time, at the very least, we need to make it look convincing."

(To be continued)