Chapter 392: Copycat

Smoke billowed at the foot of distant Iron Mountain, where fluttering battle flags could be seen. Two No. 2 Fujian junks were firing their bow red-barbarian cannons, and two sand ships from the Wendeng naval camp were launching Hundred-Tiger Volley Arrows — the firework-like arrows danced through the air, attempting to break up the Later Jin troops' formation.

Chen Xin gazed out from the bow. The guiding bird boat signaled that Later Jin soldiers were below Iron Mountain. Chen Xin peered through his telescope and saw the banner colors of the Bordered Yellow and Bordered Red Banners; their numbers did not appear large.

Had this been the World War I era, Chen Xin would have defended all the hilltops north and east of Lushun, using long-range firepower to control every inch of surrounding terrain. But with the power and range of present-day artillery, he could only defend Lushun itself and ensure passage through the harbor.

Battle flags flew atop Mount Huangjin and West Official Mountain, showing they remained under Dengzhou Garrison control. From north of Lushun came the sound of cannon fire, one blast after another, clearly audible — the Later Jin troops were launching a fresh round of attacks.

The wave-cleaving boat he rode adjusted its sails. Two long oars were lowered from either side, stroking the water as they headed toward Tiger Tail. The Dengzhou fleet followed behind, carrying the First Guard Division, the newly trained Third Battalion eight-pounder artillery unit, and large quantities of provisions and gunpowder.

Chen Xin had obtained supplies from Wang Tingzhi. The court's gunpowder could not be used for firearms or cannons, but it could be made into land mines, thunderclap bombs, and various simple "ten-thousand-man-slayer" devices.

Chen Xin's return lifted a great weight from Wang Tingzhi's shoulders. He understood all too well the consequences of losing Liaonan and threw all his resources into gathering supplies, even wanting to transfer his trusted man Liu Zeqing to Lushun — but Chen Xin flatly refused. Half of Liu Zeqing's nominal two-thousand-man force was phantom payroll; only two or three hundred retainers could actually fight, meaningless for the defense. And if Liu Zeqing earned military merit, he might surpass Geng Zhongming in standing, which would affect Chen Xin's plans for Qingzhou. The Shandong Provincial Governor had also received orders from the Ministry of War to provide sufficient provisions to Dengzhou and ensure the Liaonan campaign — this had become the most critical item in Xu Congzhi's performance evaluation.

Wu Jianzhong intensified his raids. The Ground-Crawling Tigers once pushed as far as the edge of Jinan Prefecture, cutting the road from Jinan to Denglai. Xu Congzhi could finally bear it no longer and began complaining to the court, insisting that the failure to transport provisions was not his fault and hoping Denglai would send troops to exterminate the Ground-Crawling Tigers.

Everything beyond the battlefield had been dealt with. Now only the war itself remained. For Chen Xin, that was perhaps simpler. Liu Minyou's words had reminded him — the key to everything lay with the Dengzhou Garrison. He seemed to have spent too much energy on other areas.

The nimble wave-cleaving boat slowly drew alongside the dock outside the Water City. Zhu Guobin and Zhou Shifa were waiting there. Chen Xin walked down the gangplank. Zhu Guobin came forward and saluted. "My lord, Liu Pojun is commanding operations on the city wall, and Dai Zhenggang is at the first earthen wall defense line. They could not get away for the moment and were unable to come greet you."

Chen Xin cared nothing for such face-saving formalities and asked directly, "The defensive dispositions."

"The Third Battalion's First Brigade is on West Official Mountain; one company of the Second Battalion is on Mount Huangjin. The first defense line between them has two battalion headquarters and the Lushun Garrison. One thousand dragoons serve as the reserve, with an additional three thousand auxiliary troops in support. The Fourth Battalion's infantry battalion headquarters is on standby at the second earthen wall defense line. The south city wall has one company of the Second Battalion and one thousand auxiliary troops. The Water City wall has five hundred auxiliary troops. The Jianzhou bandits launched one assault two days ago. Yesterday they paused for a day. Today they are again attacking the earthen wall, sending many bondservants to fill the pits beyond the horse-blocking trench."

"Grain stores, powder magazines, fire prevention, infiltration prevention."

"Grain and gunpowder are each divided into five separate storage depots. The storehouses are sturdy. I have assigned garrison troops from the General Military Law Unit to guard them, along with logistics soldiers drawn from each division. There are contingency plans for both fire and moisture prevention."

Chen Xin listened, then smiled and patted Zhu Guobin. "You fought well at Jinzhou. You basically followed the contingency plan. What were the cavalry losses?"

Zhu Guobin said as he walked, "Cavalry losses were one hundred seventy men; dragoons lost twenty-one. The Tatars dared not assault the infantry positions. In truth, Muchang Relay Station could have held for several more days, but Liu Pojun, in the name of the Military Orders Department, issued orders for me to withdraw to Lushun."

"Don't worry about a few days. Although Muchang Relay Station was set for five days, the purpose was always to blunt the enemy's edge. The cavalry must conserve its strength. The day Huang Taiji withdraws, we'll tear another chunk of flesh from him. Lushun is not a place that's so easy to come to."

Chen Xin finished and turned to Zhou Shifa, who was following. "Shifa, what intelligence do you have?"

"The Jianzhou bandits' total strength is roughly between ** ten thousand. According to naval reconnaissance, ox- and horse-drawn carts move ceaselessly along the route between Fuzhou and Jinzhou, transporting large quantities of supplies. Further, according to intelligence from Ningyuan and Shanhai Pass, the outer vassal Mongols have contributed roughly ten thousand troops in total. Our people, traveling with merchant caravans, can now move in and out of the Mongol steppe. From the reports coming back, the various Mongol tribes are unwilling to participate in this kind of siege warfare. Our people are spreading rumors among the tribes, hoping to shake their morale."

"Well done. And what of Lushun itself?"

"Five days ago we captured a Niru Ejen of the Bordered White Banner. However, this man was originally the Bayara Ejen of the Bordered White Banner, named Bakshan. During the battle of Fuzhou, he was the first to lead troops in charging our crossing point, causing chaos in our formation. But after returning, Dorgon made him the scapegoat, demoting him to Niru Ejen and stripping him of thirty households. This time he was assigned to reconnaissance. His men triggered a land mine at Great Lone Mountain. His leg was broken by flying stones. Our mountain patrol found him, and after pursuit, only two of the other Bayara escaped."

Chen Xin's brow lifted. "Something that happened five days ago — why did Dengzhou not receive word? Nor was it in the Intelligence Bureau's summary."

"My lord, he is willing to surrender. I was concerned that if the Provincial Governor's office learned of this, he would be seized for merit rewards, so I did not report the matter back to Dengzhou. However, it was reported and filed with Director Liu."

Chen Xin walked on in silence. Groups of auxiliary soldiers passed by, their spirits high, transporting food to the front lines.

"There is some sense in what you say." Chen Xin stopped walking. "He says he wants to surrender — what sincerity has he shown? How do we know this is not a Later Jin stratagem?"

"He revealed the route of another reconnaissance team, allowing us to kill five other Bayara. This man has lost his standing in the Bordered White Banner. Having lost so many Bayara this time, and with a broken leg, returning would be a death sentence. He wants to defect to the Dengzhou Garrison."

"This is a good start." Chen Xin smiled. "The first time a captured Later Jin officer has voluntarily offered to defect. He is a man of standing among the Later Jin. What of his wife and children?"

"According to Huang Taiji's practice, the males will likely be executed, and the women enslaved."

"When Liu Xingzhi fled back then, his family was merely placed under watch."

Zhou Shifa followed behind Chen Xin, who was striding rapidly, and kept talking, slightly out of breath. "Liu Xingzhi fled to Dongjiang with several hundred barbarian retainers under his command, but Bakshan is alone. And unlike Liu Xingzhi, he is a true Jurchen."

Chen Xin thought for a moment, then nodded. "Is your idea to let the Later Jin know he is alive, or to keep him hidden for now?"

Zhou Shifa bowed. "Let the Later Jin know. Huang Taiji will have no other choice — he must execute Bakshan's family as a warning to others. That will sever Bakshan's path back. Only then will he truly be one of ours. I can verify through the Mongols whether this is indeed how it is handled, and also confirm whether Bakshan is a Later Jin plant."

"Don't let him near sensitive information. For now, put him to work in the Intelligence Bureau. While at Lushun, he must not be confined inside the south city — keep him under guard outside the city. Whenever he leaves a room, his eyes must be blindfolded. Extract as much as you can from him. This man once served as Bayara Ejen of an entire banner and knows a great deal about White Armor Soldier tactics. Interrogate him and pass the results to the Military Affairs Department and the Military Orders Department."

"Understood!"

Chen Xin followed the south city moat northward. The protruding bastions, one after another, looked increasingly pleasing to his eye. These bastions increased flanking fire and greatly reduced the dead zones below the wall. This improvement relied on the old walls of Lushun's south city, which on the whole remained a convex, old-style defense.

The star forts then flourishing in the West featured concave exteriors with almost no dead zones, giving defenders a great advantage. This method of construction had also reached China. Xu Guangqi had once proposed building triangular, three-story hollow enemy platforms in Jingshi and Jizhen, introducing the concept of acute-angle defense lines for the first time. Later, Sun Yuanhua studied it in greater detail. In his Illustrated Treatise on Gun Platforms, he explicitly proposed constructing acute-angle defense lines (Note 1), describing them as "shaped like long claws, so as to provide mutual support" — which is precisely the outer wall shape of a star fort formed by multiple acute angles. Although he was dispatched to Ningyuan to assist Yuan Chonghuan in building city defenses, the corrupt atmosphere of Liaozhen prevented these improvements from being realized.

Sun Yuanhua's gun platforms were not his own original research either; they all came from European missionaries. And the Macau mercenaries were even more professional than the missionaries. The Portuguese gun platforms they built in Macau were the first Western-style fortifications in the Far East, and many of those methods also spread to China.

When these mercenaries served as instructors in Dengzhou, they did not play a role in this area, because Dengzhou faced no urgent threat of siege. But after the Dengzhou Rebellion, Chen Xin took them over and began having them systematically teach this knowledge. Several Frankish officers were dispatched to Lushun to assist the Military Affairs Department in constructing defense lines. They contributed greatly to the earthen wall system. Chen Xin himself learned a great deal alongside them, and of course he also made many suggestions.

Past the south city lay the second earthen wall defense line. Between the earthen wall and the city wall was fifty paces of flat ground and a moat two zhang wide. Behind the earthen wall sat the Fourth Battalion's infantry, who had been on standby here the entire time. The gaps behind the gun emplacements were all empty. If the first earthen wall was abandoned, those cannons would be moved here.

At intervals, the earthen wall had an acute-angle projection. In front of it was a trench two zhang wide. In this era, any assault would ultimately have to face this trench. And the second earthen wall differed from the first: behind the trench there was no low breastwork, but rather the direct face of an earthen wall one zhang and two chi high.

Chen Xin crossed over the thick wooden planks laid across the trench and peered into the trench on either side. It was filled with sharpened wooden stakes. According to the original contingency plan, the defenders would also scatter sheets of iron caltrops at the last moment.

Crossing this trench, the first earthen wall lay ahead. The smell of gunpowder smoke filled the air. Thunderous cannon fire boomed as if right beside him. Forceful commands rang out on all sides. The Frankish cannons on the earthen wall crackled like beans being stir-fried. Under the Dengzhou Garrison's training, these Frankish cannons were also extremely effective. Lushun had as many as three hundred Frankish cannons, operated by cadets from the Artillery Section of the Military Academy and some auxiliary troops.

Between the two earthen walls were several dozen paces of flat ground. The Dengzhou army's reserves and artillery could maneuver rapidly behind the earthen wall. The inner side of the earthen wall had a gentle slope, allowing soldiers to easily climb onto the wall top from anywhere to fight. At this moment, most of the wall top was held by musketeers, while pikemen sat waiting on the open ground at the base of the earthen wall, as did the medics.

Everything was in perfect order, displaying the professionalism of the Dengzhou Garrison's army. Chen Xin now felt a surge of excitement, a feeling entirely different from any he had experienced on the battlefield before. It was as if he had grown accustomed to this, and deep in his heart, he craved it intensely.

"Another battlefield syndrome?" Chen Xin shook his head. Liu Pojun's banner was just ahead, at the base of an acute-angle defense line. Chen Xin followed the slope and quickly walked up onto the wall top.

Before his eyes, gunpowder smoke hung thick, but he could still see the ocean-like Later Jin army formation in the distance. In front of the earthen wall were arrayed hundreds of shield carts, many of them shattered to pieces. The ground was littered everywhere with broken timber and corpses. Among the shield carts, countless bondservants were filling in the pits, many of them even running ahead of the shield carts.

"Order the West Official Mountain garrison to dispatch two platoons, moving toward the foot of the eastern slope to pin down the Jianzhou bandits' right flank. The central causeway is to send out three detachments to the end of the horse-blocking trench and engage with muskets..." Liu Pojun was issuing orders. Noticing Chen Xin's arrival, he turned to salute. Chen Xin waved him off. "Do your job. Pay me no mind. I'll observe the enemy situation first."

Liu Pojun knew his temperament and continued deploying the messengers. At that moment, a cannon boomed from the side front. A plume of thick smoke erupted among the Later Jin shield carts. Chen Xin raised his telescope. In his field of view appeared a small cannon, advancing together with the shield carts, used to suppress the Dengzhou Garrison's firepower.

"Later Jin field artillery." Chen Xin murmured quietly. "A truly amusing copycat."

Note 1: Sun Yuanhua, Illustrated Treatise on Gun Platforms: "An acute angle means the enemy is outside the angle, so as to come within our fire; thus if the angle is not acute, the enemy can approach." "The sharpness of the angle is a foreign method." "This cannot be defended against with square-cornered walls and hollow platforms; Western platform methods must be used." "Shaped like long claws, so as to provide mutual support." (To be continued...)

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