Chapter 397: Who Will Sacrifice for Them

Night fell, and the shouts of battle across the field gradually ceased. Dengzhou Garrison struck the flanks twice in succession, briefly overrunning the earthen walls on both wings of the Later Jin troops. The two Yellow Banners, who had been watching the spectacle, were forced to send troops to pin them down, and they too came under artillery fire. Only after paying a terrible price did the Later Jin troops stabilize the battlefield situation. Having gained a firm footing, they used earth-filled sacks to build makeshift breastworks, forming an arc to protect both flanks.

Behind the Later Jin earthen walls, flames blazed fiercely. Tens of thousands of bondservants toiled behind the wall of shield-carts, digging approach trenches for seizing the cannons and heightening that earthen wall. The Later Jin surplus males supervising the work executed men at the slightest provocation. Bondservants who collapsed from exhaustion were beheaded one after another, their heads hoisted on tall wooden poles as a warning, forcing these utterly exhausted bondservants to keep working without pause.

The Ming army's forward observation towers, commanding the high ground, fired sporadically with Frankish swivel guns and arquebuses, targeting Later Jin soldiers who carelessly exposed themselves. The red-barbarian cannons on West Official Hill fired intermittently; their maximum range basically covered the area from West Official Hill to the southern city of Lushun. Since the battle began, each of these iron cannons had fired nearly two hundred rounds, reaching thirty percent of their service life.

The Dengzhou troops within the earthen walls mostly rested in place. An endless stream of auxiliary soldiers transported supplies, while a few small squads operated outside the earthen walls, guarding against a Later Jin night raid.

Chen Xin and Liu Pojun remained on the northern wall. Before them, the Jianzhou bandits' earthen wall had largely taken shape. Their brutal oppression produced high efficiency; the wall was constantly growing taller. Their wall was not completely sealed either, leaving many gaps to facilitate troop sorties.

"My lord, it seems they intend to build it higher than our earthen fort."

Chen Xin said flatly, "But they cannot surpass the observation towers. As long as the towers remain intact, they cannot gain the advantage of terrain."

Liu Pojun added, "All the surrounding high points are in our hands. The threat from West Official Hill is ever-present. No matter how they build their earthen wall, they cannot block the cannonade from West Official Hill. The soldiers manning that wall are under threat at every moment. Your subordinate has already redeployed three six-pounder red-barbarian cannons to reinforce West Official Hill."

"Well done. West Official Hill need not emphasize intensity; maintain sustained fire to keep them on edge. This official will continue to request six-pounder cannons from the Ministry of War. Of that batch of nearly a hundred small red-barbarian cannons from Guangdong and Fujian back then, we should still be able to transfer quite a few."

Liu Pojun acknowledged the order. He was silent for a moment, then said to Chen Xin, "Your subordinate wishes to request that my lord direct the overall situation from the Water Fort..."

"Are you frightened by the Jianzhou bandits' resolve?"

"No, your subordinate does not fear the Jianzhou bandits, nor does he fear death. Your subordinate is a man of Liaodong. When Liaodong fell in the Tianqi era, your subordinate drifted to Dengzhou and was seized by Yang Guodong for hard labor. Later, my lord saved this humble man's life. That this humble man can now command over ten thousand troops to besiege the last piece of Liaodong soil, he can die without regret. This time the Jianzhou bandits' resolve is firm. Dengzhou can do without your subordinate, but it cannot do without my lord."

As Liu Pojun finished speaking, he was about to kneel. Chen Xin caught him and held him up. "There is no kneeling ceremony in the army. I know you worry that the Jianzhou bandits' high enclosing wall will increase our casualties in a firefight. But I firmly believe they cannot take Lushun, because these are soldiers unlike the Jianzhou bandits. They fight for themselves, just as you do."

Liu Pojun lowered his head and said nothing. Chen Xin knew what he was worried about; in truth, he himself had some misgivings. The Later Jin countered earthen wall with earthen wall, fully leveraging their advantage in manpower. Dengzhou Garrison could not compete with them in whose wall was higher.

"Pojun, remember this: no matter how high their earthen wall gets, the Jianzhou bandits ultimately have to come over to attack. Then they cannot avoid the trenches. You should have confidence in the defensive line you personally supervised building. What you need now is to steady your mind and perfect the defenses, not worry about my safety. More important than tactics is will. The general is the courage of the army. You have always served in advisory roles before. To become a true general, steadfast will is more important than a flash of inspiration. The only thing you still lack compared to Zhu Guobin, Zheng Sanhu, and the others is precisely this."

Liu Pojun bowed. "Your subordinate receives this teaching."

"What other arrangements are there for the night?"

"The combat engineer company will assault the center."

"How will fire cover be provided?"

"Four trial-produced Flying Tiger Guns (see related works), assigned directly to the combat engineer company. Your subordinate plans to concentrate them in one place to assault the center, targeting the Bordered Yellow Banner."

Chen Xin turned his head to look at Liu Pojun. "Be more specific."

"The sortie will be at the end of the wu hour. A full-line bombardment and feint attacks will pin down the Jianzhou bandits. The combat engineer company, three hundred fifty men, will be allocated three detached squads and one hundred auxiliary soldiers, totaling four hundred fifty men. They plan to throw six hundred porcelain caltrop bombs and one hundred small thunderclap bombs. Strike fast and withdraw fast. The Guards Battalion's First Division will be responsible for the link-up."

"One modification: add three more detached squads. If the combat engineer company's raid is effective, expand the attack area. We must heavily damage the enemy center, especially strive to destroy those few small bronze cannons. The Jianzhou bandits' Eight Banner system has its own separate allegiances; soldiers belong to their commanders. If you strike, you must hurt one group badly. The rest will naturally be cowed. Once their momentum is seized, no method will allow them to defeat our Dengzhou Garrison."

As the fighting subsided slightly, Chen Xin returned to his station beneath the northern wall. Dai Zhenggang, Zhu Guobin, and Zheng Sanhu all arrived on time to report, summarizing the day's battle situation and arranging the main operations for the night and the following day.

He was satisfied with the first day's results. The Later Jin had likely paid the price of over two thousand bondservants. Given the Later Jin's medical capabilities, those wounded could not be saved. These laborers were also extremely important to the Later Jin. Besides this primary loss, there were probably several hundred Mongols and over four hundred true Manchus. Dengzhou's firepower advantage was very clear.

Dengzhou's casualties were over three hundred men, with only one hundred killed. The exchange ratio reached ten to one. Huang Taiji could not hold out for long. Once the Later Jin troops' earthen wall took shape, there would be a period of stalemate. The focus of combat would shift to trench warfare, and in the broader Liaonan theater, there would also be a campaign to disrupt the supply lines.

Chen Xin had long been prepared. Sand ships would carry small detachments to land between Fuzhou and Jinzhou. These detachments, composed of the mountain infantry experimental company and the special service unit, would operate across the vast area between Gaizhou and Jinzhou. These several hundred men would tie down several thousand Later Jin troops, stretching Huang Taiji thin.

Liu Pojun, in his role as Director of the Military Orders Department, deployed the night raid operation. Chen Xin actually wished to add chief of staff positions in each battalion; the Fifth Battalion had already experimented with this. Liu Pojun had previously been his adjutant. His learning ability far exceeded that of the old guard, and his loyalty was unquestionable. He was a key target of Chen Xin's cultivation. This Battle of Lushun was also an opportunity to strengthen his authority and make the Military Orders Department's role more potent.

After Liu Pojun finished the deployment, Chen Xin reminded them, "The Later Jin troops are building earthen walls to gain cover and mass forces nearby. Future battles may erupt at any moment. Danger exists at every hour of every day. Everyone must properly arrange the soldiers' rotation for rest, leveraging our defensive advantage to conserve strength and build energy. Each of you must also pay attention to using time to rest. A general who cannot rest is not a good general."

After the zi hour, the Later Jin lines still had not quieted. The bondservants remained busy. Torches flew out sporadically from atop the earthen wall, landing far out in the pit area to check for any Ming night raid. The Dengzhou lines were completely silent. An occasional gunshot rang out, then vanished before the Later Jin troops could retaliate.

Chen Xin had not slept at all. Though he was also utterly exhausted, his mind constantly turned over whether he had missed anything: how to plead hardship to the imperial court, how to get Qingzhou into his hands, how to develop the base in Henan, how to handle the loss of Jinzhou, how to protect Zhu Guobin, how to expand Dengzhou's territory...

What he had to deal with went far beyond the Later Jin before his eyes. But the Later Jin was undoubtedly the most important. Although Chen Xin had told Liu Pojun to firm his resolve, he himself also had some worries. If the Later Jin truly fought to the death, they were not without a chance.

"Once the First Battalion's company commander headquarters arrives tomorrow, the defense will be more stable," Chen Xin thought silently.

Just then, Hai Gouzi spoke in a low voice outside the tent. "My lord!"

Chen Xin replied while lying down, "Is it nearly time for the night raid?"

"Yes. Does my lord wish to go to the wall to oversee the battle?"

Chen Xin sat up immediately, his fatigue vanishing. He had slept in his clothes. Grabbing his hat and buckling his belt, he reached the tent entrance in a few steps. Then he took his dagger and short gun from the wooden rack by the door, inserted them into the corresponding slots on his belt, and went out.

Seeing Chen Xin's state, Hai Gouzi hurriedly said, "My lord, you haven't put on your armor yet."

Chen Xin took the lead, heading straight for the wall. "What armor? I'm on the Lushun wall. The Jianzhou bandits' bows and arquebuses can't reach me, and armor won't stop cannonballs. This is fine."

Hai Gouzi scratched his head. After figuring it out, he followed behind and climbed the wall.

The night happened to be cloudy, with no starlight or moonlight. No lanterns were lit on the wall. By the glow of fires elsewhere, Chen Xin with difficulty found Liu Pojun's position. Gathered there were the central army's drummers and buglers, along with two signal cannons and two wooden implements for launching fireworks.

Chen Xin went to Liu Pojun's side and asked, "Are the assault troops in position?"

"Not yet. The advance engineers are removing the mine detonators." Liu Pojun pointed out the location.

Chen Xin looked through his telescope, but saw nothing in the pitch blackness.

"The advance engineers set out at the beginning of the zi hour. They were all soldiers who originally laid the landmine cannons in this attack sector. They need to remove those flintlock firing mechanisms. Word just came back that they've finished removing them. There's still one ke before the sortie."

Chen Xin nodded. "Where is the assembly point?"

"Just inside the North Gate, on the west side."

Chen Xin leaned out from the inner side of the gate tower to look toward the assembly point on the west side. That was originally the barracks of the Fourth Battalion's infantry company commander headquarters. Now, the open ground in front of the barracks was packed with dark figures, forming up. These combat engineers were mostly miners from Dengzhou, most of them sturdily built. Miners in this era were a unique group, somewhat similar to boat trackers, possessing a degree of organization and long accustomed to harsh labor conditions. Their will was generally extremely tenacious, making them one of the best sources of soldiers.

By the lamplight at the barracks entrance, Chen Xin could see the blunderbusses hanging across their chests. These stubby firearms fired eight lead balls at once, spraying from a flared muzzle. Their effective killing range was only fifteen paces, making them ideal for night fighting and street fighting; they had also been lethal weapons during the ascent of Dengcheng. Besides the blunderbusses, each combat engineer carried two porcelain caltrop bombs—the primitive hand grenades once used by Qi Jiguang's army—and wore a thick-backed waist saber on their back. The squad leaders among them also carried an ordinary pistol.

Their getup reminded Chen Xin of the Big Sword Units of the War of Resistance. After the indoctrination officers gave them a brief mobilization, the soldiers roared in low voices, then the officers led the unit out from the city gate.

Chen Xin watched them leave the city, their blurred figures gradually disappearing into the darkness.

At the end of the zi hour, two red fireworks rose from the northern wall of Lushun. The quiet Lushun earthen wall defense line erupted like a volcano. All cannons and Frankish swivel guns began bombarding simultaneously, dazzling like festive fireworks. The crackling of arquebus fire rang out all along the Lushun line, with muzzle flashes glittering everywhere.

Behind the Lushun earthen wall on both flanks of the attack position, four massive plumes of flame erupted upward at an angle from the ground, emitting earth-shattering roars. Those were the Flying Tiger Guns directly under the combat engineer company—primitive mortars. They were imitations made by the workshop based on the "Military Record: Western Fire Attack Divine Instruments" that Chen Xin had purchased. Their bore diameter was as high as two chi, and the barrel was about eight chi long, firing roughly polished large stone projectiles. The barrels were half-buried in the earth. These iron cannons had thick walls and were difficult to cast; Dengzhou Garrison had only these few in total. They were siege weapons. Their drawbacks were a low rate of fire and equally low accuracy; the roughly polished stone projectiles flew extremely erratically. Worried they might land on his own assault troops, Liu Pojun dared not use them for direct support. Instead, he fired them at the flanks of the attack position to disrupt the enemy on both wings, preventing them from sending reinforcements.

Later Jin troops everywhere were frantically deploying defenses. The sudden eruption of roaring cannon fire made it impossible for them to judge Dengzhou Garrison's intentions, and the darkness made them even more unaccustomed.

At a point thirty paces from the Later Jin earthen wall at the attack position, clusters of figures leaped up. A string of torches blazed to life behind them. Through his telescope, Chen Xin saw the combat engineers advancing rapidly. A group of Later Jin archers appeared atop the earthen wall. The Later Jin wall was not yet complete; unable to brace themselves on the slope to shoot, they had to risk standing on the crest. The detached squads providing cover from the rear fired a volley, cutting down most of the first wave of archers.

Under the cover of this volley, engineers holding short torches charged to the base of the Later Jin earthen wall and lit their porcelain caltrop bombs. Rows of primitive hand grenades were hurled behind the earthen wall, provoking screams of alarm within. Moments later, flames erupted in sheets behind the wall. The porcelain caltrop bombs, their surfaces bristling like hedgehogs, shattered into shards large and small, scything across the rear slope of the earthen wall.

The Ming army's attack position had three gaps. The engineers threw dense clusters of porcelain caltrop bombs into them, followed by a batch of torches. Exploiting the chaos after the explosions, they surged in through the passageways. The booming reports of blunderbusses rang out repeatedly. The engineers behind them followed in a steady stream, hurling porcelain caltrop bombs wherever Later Jin troops were concentrated. Then came the detached squads. The Bordered Yellow Banner's center position descended into chaotic melee. The blunderbusses displayed their fearsome power in this close-quarters night battle. The swift, fierce assault caused the Later Jin troops and bondservants behind the earthen wall to collapse. The engineers rapidly pushed along the earthen wall toward both flanks, swinging their greatswords once their blunderbusses were empty, fighting bloody battles against the resisting Jianzhou bandits. The detached squads pushed deeper behind the earthen wall, striking the Ujen Cooha garrisoned there. They attacked fiercely; after firing, they did not reload but directly charged the Ujen Cooha with bayonets. These slave soldiers were utterly worthless in night combat. Caught completely off guard, they could not even light their match cords and were scattered in a short time, trampling each other in the darkness with countless dead and wounded.

Chen Xin stood atop the Lüshun wall watching the flickering firelight in the distance, the screams of the Later Jin soldiers in his ears, yet his mind actually relaxed. The sound of gunfire was so pleasing to the ear; at this moment, war seemed almost a pleasure.

。。。

The night raid lasted a quarter of an hour. The Later Jin troops finally got their bearings and mobilized men to counterattack the center. The combat engineer company successfully destroyed two makeshift field guns. Before the Later Jin counterattack could arrive, they withdrew from the earthen wall together with the detachment, hastily taking nearly a hundred heads with them. They also carried away all the wounded of their own they could find.

This attack came like a sudden storm, fully exploiting the weakness of the Later Jin army's incomplete earthen wall defenses, dealing a fatal blow to Abatai's Bordered Yellow Banner troops. The garrisoned Later Jin soldiers were harassed all night, their nerves stretched taut, and they failed to mount any effective offensive the next day.

After watching the attack, the inexplicable pressure on Chen Xin instantly vanished. Liu Pojun also suddenly felt his confidence become unshakably firm, as if even the Dengzhou garrison itself was only now recognizing its own combat strength. Chen Xin made rounds through the night to see the wounded soldiers, remaining excited until daybreak. Then, with a composed demeanor, he received the combat engineers and the detachment from the previous night's raid. These simple soldiers were covered in blood and mud, but their morale soared like a rainbow. A single night raid might have only killed or wounded a few hundred men, but the spiritual encouragement it brought far exceeded those casualties.

Chen Xin bustled about for half the morning before returning to his tent to rest. He fell asleep the moment he hit the bed. When his adjutant woke him, the First Company of the First Battalion transferred from Dengzhou had arrived, accompanied by Huang Side and Nie Hong. He rose with reddened eyes, first summoning Huang Side to arrange the propaganda for the Lüshun campaign.

Huang Side offered a stream of rambling flattery as usual, then handed over a document. "My lord, this is the propaganda plan for the Lüshun campaign from the Training and Guidance Department and the Propaganda and Education Bureau. It is already being implemented."

Chen Xin took it wearily. "Side, give me a brief summary."

"For this propaganda effort, internally we are using storytelling, performance troupes, and propaganda officers to stir morale, supplemented by the military newspaper. Externally, the military newspaper is the primary tool. We've added many serialized historical romances to the paper, which are quite popular everywhere. Your subordinate has been distributing them for free throughout Denglai, and at all the ports as well. Many merchants come to the ports for goods; the sailors and laborers are illiterate, but they can take copies for free and then sell them elsewhere for profit. In this way, the dissemination is very wide. We will surely spread the achievements of our Dengzhou garrison, standing alone against the Jianzhou bandits, throughout the Great Ming, rousing the military and civilian hearts of the people under Heaven, and establishing the invincible image of our Dengzhou garrison."

"Well done. This is another battlefront. A little printing cost will not be a loss. How is the situation in various parts of Dengzhou now?"

"The masses are stirred and impassioned. Students at the vocational schools are all demanding to join the army and serve at Lüshun. Even the people in the literacy classes at the fortified villages are the same. Only... only at the Wendeng Grand Academy are there still various other voices."

"Oh? What kind of voices?"

"Some say that crafting tools is also contributing to the great army's effort, that not everyone can go fight, and someone must make the armaments. This has some reason to it. But then there are those who say that military men should simply fight, and have no other use beyond that."

Chen Xin shook his head. "Which faction?"

"The Neo-Confucianism department."

"Was it Chen Tingdong who said this?"

"No. Chen Tingdong actually got into a fight with those people. He said they are the scum of the scholarly class."

Chen Xin nodded. "So you see, not everyone who studies Neo-Confucianism is muddled. A hundred different people can emerge from studying the same book. Beyond the text itself, the fundamental issue is how one interprets those ambiguous words."

"Your subordinate believes those people should be expelled from the Grand Academy."

"Not necessary. A few dissenting voices do no harm. As long as they don't take to the streets to incite the commoners, making a fuss within the academy has even less impact. The students there are all knowledgeable; their discernment far exceeds that of the common people."

Huang Side pulled out a military newspaper. "My lord, this is the latest issue. The content is not yet complete. Your subordinate came this time also to collect some heroic deeds. Additionally, we are still missing a headline."

Just then, the sound of military songs rose from outside. Chen Xin suddenly said, "I will write it."

Huang Side was overjoyed. Chen Xin rarely wrote anything himself, because his literary talent was truly mediocre.

Chen Xin picked up the brush. Before his eyes flashed one after another of those once familiar yet now strange simple faces—probably the soldiers he saw every time he toured the military camps after a battle. Chen Xin did not remember their names. When he saw them, many were on the verge of death, yet still held onto some most unadorned wish in their hearts. "Lord Chen will surely recover Liaodong." That was what Yuan Gusheng said.

A faint smile suddenly appeared on Chen Xin's face. At this moment, he should be nothing more than a soldier, not a politician. The knot in his heart seemed to loosen as well. He began to write swiftly with the brush.

"The national soil, the land bequeathed to our generation by our ancestors, where the people are born and dwell. Liaodong has been lost for ten years. The people have become the slaves and bondservants of the Jianzhou bandits, slaughtered at will like pigs and dogs—a tragedy too horrible to bear. The Jianzhou bandits still covet what lies beyond our fences, harboring the heart of a wolf cub as they gaze southward upon the Divine Land. To this day, only a single patch of earth remains at Lüshun in all of Liaodong. Therefore, though the Jianzhou chieftain has a host of a hundred thousand, I, Chen Xin, dare not speak of retreat. Our Dengzhou garrison, a majestic and mighty army, guards the soil of our ancestors, protects our fellow countrymen. This is the brilliant righteousness under Heaven. How could we begrudge our lives? At this moment when the mountains and rivers are shattered and the nation faces peril, if we soldiers do not sacrifice for it, who will sacrifice for it..." (To be continued...)