Chapter 417: Heavy Fog

Two days later at dawn, as the sky barely began to lighten, banners flew and spear-points bristled like a forest behind the earthen walls of Lushun. Field artillery was already in transport. Except for the garrison unit and two Company Commander battalions maintaining defensive postures, the entire Dengzhou army had assembled by formation and was ready to strike. But Chen Xin atop the earthen wall could not feel the slightest joy.

Because before his eyes lay a vast expanse of white, blanketing fog. Thick mist shrouded the area around Lushun, visibility less than ten meters. Although the Dengzhou army had prepared in advance, this sudden heavy fog threw Chen Xin's plans into chaos.

Gao Hongzhong had been quite tempted that day inside the watchtower, and in subsequent negotiations hinted that Huang Taiji might withdraw his troops in two days. This subtle shift in the attitude of that diehard traitor showed that Dengzhou Garrison's growing strength was beginning to create many new possibilities — an intangible momentum, but once generated, it had a critical impact on the shifting balance of power between enemy and ourselves. Historically, the Later Jin had built their momentum through several major victories; such an advantage would attract various forces to join them or proactively offer conveniences. This time, such an opportunity had been gained, but this heavy fog could not have come at a worse time.

"My lord, the fog is too thick. In this weather, the Later Jin troops cannot march either."

"No, they can march." Chen Xin denied it with a grim face. "The hardest thing in fog is attacking, especially for an army like ours that demands formation discipline."

They waited the time it takes to smoke a pipe of tobacco, yet Chen Xin still gave no order. Liu Pojun and Zhu Guobin remained silent as well. Over the past two days, they had led a group of staff officers and, in unusual excitement, drawn up a perfect pursuit plan. A sudden heavy fog had now dashed all their preparations. Attacking in such weather was a severe test for any army; one tiny mishap could cause an entire company to collapse and scatter.

Horn calls sounded in the distance — the Dengzhou scouts signaling that the Later Jin troops were making some movement. Soon, a mounted scout returned to report that part of the Later Jin troops had left camp, but their movements could not be seen clearly. Chen Xin hesitated inwardly. The Later Jin army still held an advantage in total troop strength; the initiative was not entirely in Chen Xin's hands. If they moved in such fog, they might well fall into an ambush. And the formation fighting and firepower superiority that Dengzhou Garrison excelled at would be difficult to exploit. On the contrary, the dispersed skirmishing that the Jianzhou Bandits excelled at would be easier to employ. Dengzhou Garrison also had the capability for dispersed combat, but there was still a gap in scale compared to the Later Jin troops, and it would be of little use in this kind of pursuit battle.

In the Battle of Sarhu back then, the Later Jin troops had also used heavy fog to attack, smashing Du Song's force — the strongest of them — in one blow. This demonstrated their ability to fight in such weather, which cast a shadow over Chen Xin's heart and made him deeply hesitant about whether to commit his main force.

Chen Xin and Liu Pojun's original plan was to wait until the Later Jin began their withdrawal and their formation stretched out, then pursue with the entire army from behind. The infantry was to move out as well, providing firm rear support for the cavalry and Long Qibing. No matter what army it was, transitioning from a marching state back into battle formation always took a long time. Being pinned down on the road by the Dengzhou army was far more dangerous than being pinned down at Lushun, because they would have no fortified camp and the entire army would be in a state of unease. So Chen Xin himself believed there was a great chance of tearing a chunk of flesh from Huang Taiji.

Now, with the fog, it was different. They could not observe the Later Jin army's movements, and the intelligence advantage they had held since the Lushun defensive battle could not be brought into play. If the Later Jin army feinted and dug a trap for the Dengzhou army, using their superior mobility, the previous gains of the Lushun defense campaign could be reversed. In such chaotic fighting, anything could happen. If they sortied the entire army according to the original plan, they might win a great victory — or just as likely suffer a great defeat.

In the end, Chen Xin did not take the risk. He could not even be certain whether the Later Jin would actually retreat, so he only dispatched those detachments serving as the vanguard. The vanguard commander was Dai Zhenggang. These detachments were composed of Mandarin Duck Squads and detached companies, tasked with pinning down the Later Jin troops through dispersed skirmishing. The remaining troops continued to stand by behind the earthen wall, waiting for the heavy fog to lift.

These detachments quickly force-marched to the north and began engaging the Later Jin army, the crack and pop of gunfire breaking out. Chen Xin stretched out his hand to test the air; there was no wind stirring. No one knew how long this heavy fog would last.

He helplessly withdrew his hand and said to Liu Pojun behind him, "Notify the troops on standby to rest in place."

Horn calls and gunfire sounded ceaselessly all around. Chen Ying's detachment advanced silently through the blinding fog. They all tried to lighten their steps as much as possible; the rustling sounds of their armor and clothing were swallowed up by the chaotic background noise. After setting out, Chen Ying had broken up this detachment that had been training together for a few days. The detached companies were grouped by squad. His original subordinates were formed into two combat groups, with intervals between them, using bamboo whistles and bird calls to coordinate and support each other. Chen Ying's order to the firearms team was to aim before opening fire, because they would only have one chance to shoot. His order to the assault team was to replace shooting with charging.

Chen Ying's group had over thirty people in total. A Mandarin Duck Squad took the lead, deploying into two Small Three-Talent formations, with the musketeers advancing in the middle rear and on both flanks. Before their eyes was a hazy expanse of white; beyond ten paces everything became extremely blurred. They had already covered a distance of four li. Fighting had erupted all around them. From the east came the distinctive low, muffled boom of Banjiu Foot Guns, and screams rang out continuously in the white fog. Chen Ying was very surprised that his own combat group had not encountered a single enemy. Twice they had bumped into friendly troops who had veered off course, giving them false alarms. In his mind, he roughly estimated that they were not far from the main Later Jin camp now.

Several arrows whizzed out of the fog from the flank, thudding into the ground — no one knew where they had come from. The soldiers continued forward. Chen Ying casually picked up an arrow; it was a spinach-leaf-shaped armor-piercing cone with a three-inch arrowhead. Taking one of those at close range would be quite enough to bear.

Chen Ying tossed the arrow aside and walked at the front holding his flag-spear. He was the leader of this combat group and also part of the Small Three-Talent formation, positioned at the very front. Everyone stared wide-eyed at their surroundings. The musketeers had their gunstocks braced against their shoulders, ready to fire at any moment. The shield-bearers of the assault team were simply carrying javelins, their waist sabers resting on the shield racks.

They continued forward like this for about another fifty paces. The combat zones on the flanks seemed to have grown distant. Chen Ying felt a bit uneasy inside; he did not know where they had walked to. Fighting alongside the main body would have been more reassuring. Looking at the soldiers around him, every one of them was also extremely tense.

Just as he was about to order the squad to halt, a dark figure suddenly appeared about ten paces ahead. Chen Ying had a short gun in his hand, but for a moment he had not decided whether to fire — what if it was friendly troops again? A mistaken shot would be a serious matter.

The person over there was clearly also somewhat stunned. Both sides froze for a brief moment. In that short span of time, a row of figures appeared beside that dark silhouette.

"Changfeng!" Chen Ying shouted the password loudly.

The right hand of the lead dark figure over there moved. Chen Ying had fought the Later Jin troops many times; he recognized at a glance that it was the motion for throwing a flying axe. He bellowed, "It's the Tatars! Fire!"

A volley of gunfire rang out. The already overly tense Ming musketeers fired wildly at that cluster of dark figures. Screams erupted from the other side; seven or eight dark silhouettes twisted and fell. Immediately behind them, more dark figures surged out. Spinning flying axes and flying swords sliced through the air, and screams also rang out continuously among the Ming troops.

Chen Ying immediately crouched low, swiftly holstered his short gun, and in the same motion drew the flying axe from his belt, hurling it at the nearest person on the opposite side. Flying axes and the shield-bearers' javelins flew over with a whistling sound.

Without looking to see whether he had hit, Chen Ying roared, "Kill!"

The remaining members of the assault team shouted in unison, raising their weapons and charging fiercely toward the enemy. The musketeers, having fired their shots, also drew their waist sabers and surged forward together. The Later Jin soldiers in the thick fog shrieked and howled, charging into the melee without the slightest fear. All kinds of weapons churned the mist in the air, sending up sprays of blood.

Neither side knew the other's numbers. A chaotic, blind small-scale encounter battle thus unfolded. Both sides, equally filled with fighting spirit and confidence, fought desperately, howling as they engaged in hand-to-hand combat in the white fog. As numbers increased, the fight devolved from formation-based thrusting with long weapons into a chaotic brawl. At the point of engagement, figures tangled in confusion, all formations gone. Soldiers on both sides attacked the enemies nearest them purely on instinct, just like a street fight. Such small-scale engagements were often fiercer than large-scale formation battles.

The deputy group leader who had stayed at the rear blew his bamboo whistle, calling for reinforcements from the surrounding area. More and more Later Jin soldiers kept emerging before them, and the deputy group leader's whistle grew increasingly frantic. After Chen Ying used his flag-spear to kill a Mongol, he turned his head but before he could even see clearly, a saber came slashing straight at his face. Chen Ying instinctively leaned backward; the blade scraped across the iron plates of his neck-guard, sending up a shower of sparks. Chen Ying barely dodged it. He retreated repeatedly, trying to create distance to attack with his flag-spear. That Later Jin soldier pursued him closely, but before he could swing his blade again, a musketeer suddenly burst out from the side, tackled the Later Jin soldier to the ground, and stabbed him repeatedly with a dagger.

Chen Ying turned his head, searching everywhere for a target, and engaged another Later Jin soldier wielding a large blade. After only a few exchanges, a loud clang rang out on Chen Ying's helmet. His head buzzed, his vision went black, and he collapsed toward the ground. An iron mace had struck his bright helmet from somewhere unknown. The Later Jin soldier with the large blade in front of him rushed over, about to hack at Chen Ying, but was shot dead by a musketeer who had just arrived as reinforcement.

Chen Ying's face was covered in blood. He lay on the ground, mouth agape, dizzy and nauseous. Amid the ringing in his ears, he heard startled shouts suddenly erupt nearby. A soldier yelled, "Company Commander Chen is dead!"

For a moment, Chen Ying did not understand where there was another Company Commander Chen. Only after a moment did he react — they must have seen him fall and, in the hazy fog, thought he had been killed.

Someone at the rear also shouted, "Deputy Group Leader Peng is dead too!"

"Old Peng is dead?" Chen Ying thought painfully on the ground. The whistle sounds had indeed stopped. Perhaps it was that very whistle that had attracted some Later Jin soldier. This Old Peng was a loyal and upright man, and they had a very good relationship. In his grief, he also worried that the squad had lost command. The deputy group leader was the flag captain of the firearms flag team. If Chen Ying fell in battle, the deputy group leader would take over; if the deputy group leader fell, a squad leader would take command.

Soon, the voice of a squad leader rang out nearby. "I'm Zhang Zhongwei, squad leader of the second squad. Everyone listen to me! No one is allowed to flee! The Company Commander is dead — if you run back, you'll die anyway. Don't fucking bring ruin on your families."

The soldiers around responded one after another. Dengzhou modeled its military code on the Qi Family Army's code. Although the usual maiming and humiliating punishments had been reduced, the severity of battlefield discipline was even harsher. If a Company Commander fell in battle and the flag captains and squad leaders retreated without merit, they would all be beheaded. If squad leaders did not retreat and died in battle, but their subordinate squad members retreated without merit, all of them would be beheaded.

Now that officers had died to this extent — both the Company Commander and the firearms flag captain had fallen in battle — if soldiers ran back empty-handed, the probability of being beheaded exceeded ninety-nine percent. They would have no grounds whatsoever to convince the military judge. Beyond being beheaded, all their pensions and compensation would be canceled, and all their property in Dengzhou Garrison would be confiscated, including the land and houses in the fortified village. Pensions and retirement pay were a large sum of money, and fixed assets were the foundation of their families' survival. This kind of military code punishment was even more brutal than beheading.

These military regulations were repeatedly explained in normal times by commanding officers, military judges, and indoctrination officers. There were also specially composed vernacular mnemonics. Every soldier had to be able to recite them and understand the meaning of the clauses; failing a spot check also brought punishment.

Thus, every soldier knew the implications of the military code. With no way out, the Dengzhou soldiers erupted like wild beasts. Those who fought the Later Jin soldiers to mutual destruction were not few. Reinforcements from both sides kept arriving in a steady stream. A small encounter battle had turned exceptionally brutal because of the mistaken belief that Chen Ying had died in battle.

The Dengzhou soldiers attacked the Later Jin troops with every weapon they could find. Soldiers wrestling on the ground used their teeth to tear desperately at the Later Jin soldiers' throats. Wounded soldiers struggled to find any opportunity to attack the enemies beside them. Several soldiers stabbed in the abdomen by spears continued hacking and slashing even as their intestines dragged on the ground. The military code drove them; at this moment, they were fighting only for themselves and their families. That instinctive latent potential erupted. The Later Jin soldiers finally could not hold, abandoning the ground full of dead and wounded armored soldiers to flee in panic, disappearing into the white fog.

Chen Ying waited another moment before regaining the ability to move. He staggered and propped himself up. Around him, two soldiers covered in blood were half-kneeling on the ground, still using broken waist sabers to stab at the Later Jin soldiers on the ground, stabbing over and over until they were utterly exhausted before stopping and sitting there in a daze.

That squad leader limped past in front of him. Chen Ying called out in a low voice twice, but that Squad Leader Zhang showed no reaction at all, looking left and right as he walked off into the distance. Chen Ying felt around on the ground and found half a spear shaft. Using it for support, he stood up and finally spotted a squad leader, quickly waving at the man.

That squad leader came over and studied him for a long while. Chen Ying wiped the blood from his face, and only then did the squad leader recognize him. He asked in astonishment, "Company Commander, weren't you dead?"

"Dead your mother. Quickly, help me." Chen Ying felt his head was still extremely muddled.

The squad leader hurriedly supported him. Chen Ying gave him low-voiced instructions: "Tell everyone to form a circular defense, clear the battlefield, and tend to the wounded."

The squad leader acknowledged and immediately relayed the order to the other soldiers. Chen Ying looked around. The ground was covered with corpses. Yet beyond this small battlefield, visibility was still unclear — all the same white. Chen Ying could not even tell the direction now. He could only first order the soldiers to form a circular defense.

At that moment, the squad leader ran back over. Chen Ying asked him in a low voice, "Do you still remember the direction?"

The squad leader pointed behind Chen Ying. "That side is the enemy camp. North."

Chen Ying asked doubtfully, "How do you know?"

"It's burning over there."

Chen Ying turned his head to look. Indeed, flickering firelight shone through the fog from that direction.

"The Tatars are burning their main camp?" (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, welcome to Qidian to cast your recommendation votes and monthly votes. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please go to read at m. qidian. com.)