Chapter 331: Quiet Night, Grieving the Fallen

Before night fell, the mopping-up was largely complete. Strings of Later Jin soldiers and bondservants were marched out from every mountain pass — seventy or eighty armored soldiers and auxiliaries among them, over a thousand bondservants. The soldiers guarding them still had severed heads hanging from their waists.

These bondservants had fled on foot from the Niangniang Palace ferry crossing. When the Dengzhou detachment pursued too swiftly, they could only head west into the hills. The mountain paths there required detours and were extremely difficult to travel, so by the time Dengzhou garrison began its sweep, they had only just reached the vicinity of the battlefield. They ran straight into the mopping-up troops of the Personal Guard Battalion and were almost entirely captured in one net.

The armor and weapons on the battlefield were all collected and carried back to an open space inside the encampment. On the battlefield only over a thousand headless Jianzhou bandit corpses remained. The first batch of flat-bottomed boats was hauled to the ferry crossing by a group of sailors using tow ropes. They unloaded the tents and javelins needed for making camp, and on the return trip carried part of the spoils back to Niangniang Palace.

The Dengzhou army made camp right beside the Fuzhou River. Dengzhou encampments were always very simple. Although they were in enemy territory today, the enemy had also fought all day, and after a major defeat their morale was low — the chance of the entire force coming out for a surprise attack was very small.

Each Company Commander's unit set up one encampment, deploying javelins and caltrops. Some landmines were also laid on the roads. Chen Xin's Personal Guard Battalion Company Commander unit had seen less fighting this time and was placed on the outer perimeter. The Dragon Cavalry Company Commander unit, which had suffered the heaviest losses, made camp beside the Fuzhou River.

Campfires were lit everywhere across the countryside, shining in concert with the skyful of stars above the night sky — partly to prevent remnant routed soldiers from fleeing, and partly to detect any night raid by the enemy in time. Dengzhou's ambush troops lay hidden beyond the surrounding firelight. Chen Xin dispatched double the usual ambush troops, spreading out five li from the military camp in three directions — mainly the scout cavalry and special-operations teams from each unit. Every li, a Mandarin Duck formation combat squad provided support.

Liu Pojun led staff officers on a spot check of the concealed sentries to the west and north. Finding no negligence, he headed back to camp to attend today's summary and tomorrow's operations conference.

When he reached the main army tent, the suona had just begun to sound. Only Zhu Guobin was inside. Last time in Dengzhou, Zhu Guobin had been furious with Liu Pojun, because Zhu Guobin, like Zhong Laosi, believed Liu Pojun had devised an overly complicated battle plan with no clear objective. During command he had also been irresolute, which ultimately allowed Li Jiucheng and the others to escape, prompting Zhu Guobin and Wang Zhangfu to jointly file a complaint against Liu Pojun. However, this Fuzhou campaign had proceeded very smoothly, and Zhu Guobin and the others' opinion of Liu Pojun had shifted somewhat.

Chen Xin also emerged from the rear. He was in excellent spirits today. On the second day of the campaign, they had already routed the Fuzhou Plain White Banner. The Jianzhou bandit strength in the entire Southern Four Garrisons region had instantly collapsed, and Dengzhou Garrison now held overwhelming initiative.

The Deputy Chief Military Judge, Deputy Chief Quartermaster, Deputy Chief Indoctrination Officer, and the commanding officers of each unit arrived one by one. After the guards served them tea, Chen Xin signaled to begin. First he lavishly praised each unit's outstanding performance, especially the Mounted Infantry Company Commander unit. Not only had they completed the maneuver from Pingyang River to Fuzhou River within half a day and routed the Plain White Banner in one blow, they had subsequently also defeated the Ujen Cooha and the Tianyou Army. This newly born Dengzhou troop type had demonstrated a high degree of mobility and combat capability. Although the infantry fought ferociously in formation, their mobility could not guarantee they would appear at the right place. The three infantry Company Commander units had only served a decoy and deterrent role.

Liu Pojun presided over the meeting, briefly outlining the agenda: first report today's battle results and losses, then arrange tomorrow's operations. He first called the name of the Military Judge.

The one accompanying them this time was the Deputy Chief Military Judge. At Dengzhou operations conferences, he generally spoke first. The Military Judge was responsible for verifying battle results. After every battle, everyone most wanted to hear him speak first.

"Confirmed kills: one thousand one hundred and eighty-two Jianzhou bandit true barbarians. Preliminary estimate: around fifty-odd Bayara, two hundred and ninety mounted armored troops, over five hundred foot armored troops, one Plain White Banner Jalai Ejen, one Bayara Jalai Ejen, three Niru Ejen, one Plain Blue Banner Niru Ejen — the rest were auxiliaries. Killed: three hundred and seventy Ujen Cooha and Tianyou Army troops, the majority Ujen Cooha. Many were killed by the Jianzhou bandits supervising the battle or trampled to death by their own side."

A low murmur of laughter rippled through the hall. The Ujen Cooha had collapsed even faster than Ming troops. One could say they had no idea how to form ranks with firearms. After suffering a few artillery bombardments, they fell into utter chaos. Once the gunfire started, everyone front and rear was shooting, filling the entire formation with dense smoke. With poor visibility, the confusion worsened, and under the assault of the detachment and artillery they quickly collapsed. The Tianyou Army, more experienced, fared considerably better, but neither of the two Han-traitor forces displayed strong combat power, much less achieved Huang Taiji's objective.

In reality, Dengzhou Garrison, using its maritime mobility advantage, had suddenly reinforced its troops, giving it absolute numerical superiority this time. Huang Taiji had also vastly overestimated the combat strength of the bondservant soldiers. He seemed to think there was no real difference between one musket unit and another, but the gap between the Ujen Cooha and Dengzhou's professional soldiers was far too vast.

Although during Kangxi's pacification of Wu Sangui there had been a very formidable bondservant unit, by that time the Qing army had entered the pass and seized vast wealth. The bondservants of the princes and nobles in the capital also shared in considerable spoils, and their status in the capital far exceeded that of ordinary Han people. They were fighting for their own interests, and with commanding generals enforcing strict military discipline, they naturally possessed decent combat strength.

The Ujen Cooha at this moment were nothing but a bunch of slaves just dragged out of the fields — also the group in Liaodong with the least spirit of resistance. Accustomed to meekly enduring oppression, they not only had no wealth, they did not even have proper clothing. Apart from the surrendered artillerymen who had their own bondservants to farm the land, the other Ujen Cooha had to farm for themselves and even farm for their masters. Their combat skill amounted to barely knowing how to fire a gun, with no experience in battle formations. Shi Tingzhu was also a spineless man who had surrendered during the Battle of Guangning; the habits of the Ming army still clung heavily to him. Even when holding the advantage, he was extremely timid. In the original history, during the Song-Jin Campaign, he and Ma Guangyuan were punished for passive conduct in battle.

Facing Dengzhou Garrison, he was even more pathetic. On Shenmi Island he had already lost his nerve. This time, as soon as the front line collapsed, the Bayara supervising the formation charged forward to cut down deserters, momentarily neglecting to guard Shi Tingzhu, and he fled with his elite troops. The outcome of sending such soldiers and commanders to fight Dengzhou Garrison's professional troops, who trained every day, was predictable.

"Captured alive: ninety-three true barbarians, twelve Fishskin Tatars, one thousand three hundred and thirty bondservants. Report complete." The Military Judge finished and returned to his seat.

Liu Pojun, presiding over the meeting, then called the name of the Quartermaster. He stood and said: "Today we captured: fifty-seven suits of Bayara armor, three suits of fine mountain-pattern armor, four hundred and twenty suits of iron armor, two hundred and ninety suits of mail armor, four hundred suits of cotton armor, five hundred and fifty-eight bird guns, one Jalai Ejen great banner, five Niru banners. Other blades such as sabers and spears have not been tallied — roughly over a thousand. Captured warhorses: nine hundred and thirty-two, all with saddlery…"

The officers in the tent all looked excited. The Jianzhou bandit Plain White Banner had brought around two thousand three to four hundred men this time and lost nearly half — the first time Dengzhou Garrison had heavily mauled a single banner. The Shenmi Island force had been drawn from various banners, so the losses there were spread evenly. The shock to the Jianzhou bandit banner lords was far less than this time.

The captured equipment also excited them, especially the Company Commander of the Dragon Cavalry and Tan Shen. They were most lacking in mail armor. With this haul, they could fully equip all their musketeers. This type of armor suited light cavalry and close-combat troops. Even if damaged, it only required replacing the rings, which could be repaired by the accompanying army blacksmiths.

Liu Pojun said flatly, "Next, report the losses for each Company Commander unit. The Dragon Cavalry Company Commander unit and the Cavalry Battalion go first."

Tan Shen stood first. "Cavalry Battalion: two hundred and seventy-three killed, seventy-six severely wounded — most likely beyond rescue and unable to return to the ranks. One hundred and thirty-eight lightly wounded, most with no threat to life."

The Mounted Infantry Company Commander said, "Dragon Cavalry Company Commander unit: two hundred and sixty-two killed, seventy-one severely wounded, one hundred and twenty-one lightly wounded. The severe wounds are mostly pike thrusts — I fear they will be very hard to save. The light wounds are mostly arrow wounds; it depends on whether they can survive external infection later…"

………

Guan Dadi lay on a stretcher inside a tent. Planks and his bedding were laid beneath him, his waist-tag placed right beside his head. To his left and right stretched a row of similar sickbeds. Several soldiers who had been stabbed through the belly were howling in agony. Other severely wounded soldiers groaned ceaselessly, while some medical orderlies murmured comfort to the injured. The tent was noisy and chaotic. Outside in the distance came the sound of wood being hammered — he had no idea what they were doing — leaving him with no mood to rest at all.

The aroma of roasting horse meat drifted in from outside. Saliva welled up in his mouth in waves. A tickling sensation crept along the corner of his lips. He hurriedly stuck out his tongue and licked along the corner of his mouth at a small drop of honey trickling down his face. That sweetness tasted utterly delicious to him. The wounds on his right foot, chest, and face had all stopped bleeding and were smeared with honey. After debridement, the wound on his face had been bandaged with sterilized cotton cloth — sticky and extremely uncomfortable. Whenever a tiny bit of honey trickled down after a long while, he never wasted a drop.

Dengzhou Garrison had no field hospitals. Wounds could only be given a rough debridement and then smeared with honey for disinfection. Fresh honey has a disinfectant effect and was still used by armies as late as World War I. So apart from their pre-campaign preparations, the medical orderlies of each unit spent their time in camp searching everywhere for beehives. In the army, one often saw men with bruised and swollen faces even when there was no fighting — without looking at their armbands, you knew they were medical orderlies.

But honey was no antibiotic after all. Whether infection set in in the end depended entirely on how tough each man's fate was. Guan Dadi's most painful wound was on his calf — a very long gash. The arrow wound on his chest had not penetrated deep into the flesh. The one on his face caused him some distress, because the medical orderly told him he could only drink congee for the next few days and could not use his teeth to chew. So he could not eat meat either — at most he could have some ham or horse-meat congee boiled down.

What pained Guan Dadi most was that Old Zhou had not been saved. He had just asked the medical orderlies — among the wounded in his own company, there was no waist-tag with the surname Zhou. Old Zhou was a few years older than him, his neighbor — an honest and sturdy farmer. Before this, he had never even seen a horse. Over these months he had fallen countless times and finally managed to learn to ride. In the army his appetite was astonishingly huge, and he had looked after Guan Dadi very well. Now he was gone just like that, leaving behind a wife and two ten-year-old children.

"When I go back later, I'll help his family with the farm work," Guan Dadi said in his heart. But he did not know whether his own wounds were enough to be sent home.

"Kill the Tatars! I still want to kill Tatars!" A severely wounded soldier beside him suddenly bellowed. He was one of those replenished from the Lüshun auxiliary troops last time — a bachelor whose entire family had died during the escape. Because he was agile and had used a bird gun before, he had been assigned to the Money-Distributing Squad.

"Brother Yuan, rest and recover well. Later I'll take you to kill Tatars." Zhao Xuan's voice sounded softly. Guan Dadi tilted his head with effort and saw the Indoctrination Officer of the Company Commander unit, Zhao Xuan, holding the wounded soldier's hand while using a kerchief in his other hand to wipe the dense beads of sweat from the soldier's forehead. What Guan Dadi admired most about Zhao Xuan was that he could remember the names of everyone he had ever spoken with.

Guan Dadi knew he would not live. A long gash had been slashed across his belly by a Jianzhou bandit cavalryman's large blade, and his intestines had spilled out on the spot. The medical orderly had stuffed them back into his belly and wrapped thick layers of cotton cloth on the outside. By the time he was carried in, he was already in a semi-comatose state.

"Kill! Kill! Kill!"

His head jerked forcefully a few times. Zhao Xuan stood and carefully wiped him. "Brother Yuan, you killed two Tatars — your performance was very brave. I will fight for a medal for you. In the future, when you walk down the street, everyone will raise their thumbs and praise you as a true hero."

Just then a medical orderly hurried over. Zhao Xuan said urgently, "Come look quickly. Is there any other way?"

The medical orderly shook his head and whispered a couple of sentences into Zhao Xuan's ear. Zhao Xuan nodded sorrowfully.

That medical orderly came over and examined Guan Dadi's several wounds. Seeing that not much blood had seeped through the cotton cloth, he patted Guan Dadi on the shoulder and said, "It's nothing. Your wounds aren't severe. You're strong and sturdy — you'll certainly pull through. In a bit I'll come feed you horse-meat congee. Once the other tents are ready, I'll move you over to the lightly wounded section."

Guan Dadi was about to open his mouth when the medical orderly waved a hand. "Don't talk, or the wound on your face will split open."

With that he left. Zhao Xuan stood silently for a moment, then made a round among the other severely wounded in the tent, murmuring comfort to each one. In truth, none of them had any hope of being saved.

"Lord Chen! I want to see Lord Chen!"

Guan Dadi quickly turned to look. The Detachment soldier, Brother Yuan, beside him had suddenly propped himself up. Zhao Xuan and a medical orderly rushed over to make him lie down, but Brother Yuan was now startlingly lucid. He said loudly, "I killed two Tatar soldiers. I want to report to Lord Chen — I didn't take his soldier's pay for nothing. I've avenged my wife and children. I want to see Lord Chen, Squad Commander Zhong, and Mr. Liu. I've never even met Mr. Liu — I've only heard the Dengzhou brothers talk about him."

The medical orderly leaned close to Zhao Xuan's ear and said, "Suddenly lucid — I'm afraid it's the final rally before death."

Zhao Xuan froze for a second, then immediately ran outside, shouting as he went, "I'll go call Lord Chen for you…"

A smile on his face, Brother Yuan kept himself propped up. No matter how the medical orderly tried to persuade him, he refused to lie down. Guan Dadi tilted his head and stared at him blankly. In truth, Guan Dadi bore no other hatred toward the Jianzhou bandits — only that his younger brother had died in Luanzhou. Today he had killed two or three Tatars, which seemed to count as revenge. The hatred in his heart had already faded considerably.

After waiting a while longer, Brother Yuan gradually could no longer hold himself up, but he kept talking to the medical orderly. "I had two boys and a girl. In the village there were also uncles, cousins, and several brothers. When the Jianzhou bandits came, they seized our house and made me live in the cowshed. The Jianzhou bandits killed people whenever they felt like it. My girl was taken by them and died after three days. My wife and I fled with the two boys. My wife died before we reached Pi Island. The older boy died in Kuandian. The younger boy starved to death the year before last — he was eaten by the people on the island. I couldn't stop them. I failed them. But today I killed two Tatars. I've avenged them…"

His face wore a kind, gentle smile the whole time as he kept recounting his experiences. Two more medical orderlies arrived upon hearing him. They found a pack to prop behind his back so he would not have to strain so hard to stay up, but his voice still grew fainter and fainter.

Guan Dadi looked at his smiling face. Although he had never known this Detachment soldier, Brother Yuan, a sudden hope rose in his heart that Lord Chen could hurry over and let this man, whose whole life had been misery, set off on his journey in peace.

From outside, Zhao Xuan's shouting voice came from afar — it seemed he really had found Lord Chen. Then came the sound of hurried footsteps. Zhao Xuan was the first to lift the tent flap. Behind him, it was truly Chen Xin who strode in, along with several Company Commanders and Zhong Laosi.

Guan Dadi breathed a sigh of relief. Zhao Xuan hurried to the bedside and said to Brother Yuan, "Brother Yuan, Lord Chen is making his rounds among the wounded. He's come to see you."

Brother Yuan's gaze was already drifting. He stopped speaking and turned his eyes over, weakly raising a hand. Chen Xin came over and grasped it, glanced at his waist-tag, and said quietly, "Yuan Gusheng, I heard you killed two Jianzhou bandits — an outstanding performance. You have also avenged your wife and children. They will be proud of you."

Yuan Gusheng let out a long breath and said haltingly, "They're all dead. I'm going to see them now. I'm from Niuzhuang. Lord Chen, you will surely recover Liaodong — I know it."

Zhao Xuan said, "Brother Yuan, don't think too much. You can survive. We'll recover Liaodong together."

Yuan Gusheng shook his head, his gaze fixed on Chen Xin's face before him. "I didn't disgrace Dengzhou Garrison. Lord Chen, you are the Martial Star incarnate. No one has ever treated me so well — food to eat, clothes to wear, and you let me kill Tatars. I've avenged them. If only one more son were still alive… that would be good."

Chen Xin was silent for a moment, then said gently, "Brother Yuan, if you truly cannot survive, there will be a compensation payment. This silver will be used to adopt a foster son for you. He will take your surname and will offer incense at your shrine every year. The Propaganda and Indoctrination Office will tell him of your heroic deeds, and your medal will also be left to him. Years and years from now, people will still know there was a hero named Yuan Gusheng."

"Truly?" A gleam of spirit returned to Yuan Gusheng's eyes. His mouth opened wide, and his head bobbed gently up and down. "I still have a son… I am a hero…"

With that kind, gentle smile on his face, he finally stopped moving. Silence fell over the tent. Chen Xin sighed and closed his eyes for him. After a long moment, he said to Zhao Xuan, "Record their deeds. Let everyone know — without these brave souls who sacrificed themselves, there would be no peaceful and happy life."

Guan Dadi straightened his head and stared blankly at the tent roof. Two teardrops slid down his cheeks. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, welcome to Qidian (qidian. com) to cast recommendation votes and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)

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