Chapter 419

The Later Jin troops abandoned their baggage and fled at full speed, reaching Jinzhou that same day. The elite troops withdrew very quickly; along the way, as many as a hundred bondservants collapsed and died from exhaustion. In total, over a thousand bondservants and Mongols surrendered. The weapons and armor discarded on the road were countless, and three of the remaining red-barbarian cannons had their carriages damaged and had to be abandoned by the roadside, becoming spoils of war for Dengzhou Garrison.

Relying on meticulous planning, Huang Taiji finally managed to escape the most dangerous sector, paying a price of only about five hundred armored soldiers. At this moment, the Later Jin army's morale was shattered. The walls and grain reserves of Jinzhou gave them a chance to catch their breath, but Liaonan was still not secure, and they needed to continue their retreat.

Once they began to flee, the Later Jin troops were no longer a major threat in this campaign. Chen Xin led the main force from Lushun in bold pursuit. The Dengzhou army reached Nanguan that day and set up camp. The Later Jin troops had not had time to destroy the crude fort at Nanguan, so the Dengzhou army garrisoned inside it, establishing defenses along the key points of Nanguan. In one day, they restored Nanguan's defenses, first ensuring their own defensive position was solid.

Dengzhou Garrison's momentum was unstoppable. The next day, Dengzhou cavalry and dragoons arrived at Jinzhou, showing no fear of the enemy's numerical advantage. Huang Taiji did his utmost to rally the Jin army's morale, personally leading troops out of the city. The Beizi of each banner brought their White Armor Soldiers into battle, using their numerical superiority in cavalry to stretch the battle line and force back the Dengzhou cavalry.

The Later Jin army's morale recovered slightly. Relying on Jinzhou, they confronted the Ming army. This place was nearly half the distance closer to Fuzhou, their supplies were ample, and the roles of the two sides had reversed, with the Dengzhou army now becoming the attacker.

Huang Taiji hoped to restore morale at Jinzhou. He dispatched armored soldiers from each Niru to Huanggudao Fort, where they happened to encounter Mao Chenglu, who was retreating. The Later Jin army gave Mao Chenglu a severe beating, which finally boosted the army's spirits. Chen Xin naturally would not engage in a decisive battle with Later Jin troops relying on a strong city. He merely kept consolidating the defenses at Nanguan, then continuously sent out cavalry to wear down the Jianzhou bandits' strength.

After a delay of only two days, Huang Taiji received news that Ming troops had landed at Niangniang Temple in Fuzhou, followed by reports that Ming skirmishers were conducting frenzied raids between Fuzhou and Jinzhou. Most of the grain being transported to Jinzhou that day was lost.

Huang Taiji dared not stay long. The next day, he abandoned Jinzhou and retreated. They only had time to demolish part of Jinzhou's walls, tearing down less than ten feet of the southern wall. To avoid alerting the Dengzhou troops, they did not even burn the stored grain, abandoning it directly to the enemy.

During their retreat, the Later Jin troops split into two routes. One headed toward Fuzhou, the other toward Xiuyan, creating the appearance of a trap: if the Dengzhou army advanced north past Jinzhou, the other route could turn back and cut off their retreat.

The Dengzhou army, having committed nearly its entire force, did not hesitate this time. Chen Xin judged that the Later Jin army currently lacked the confidence to execute a turning-and-enveloping maneuver. He decisively committed cavalry and dragoons to pursue the western route toward Fuzhou, with the Third Battalion infantry following in support, while the Second Battalion infantry controlled the mountain roads south of Xiuyan.

After the retreat began, the Later Jin army had already lost some control. The troops had absolutely no will to fight, a panic most easily bred when under pursuit, and even Huang Taiji had no way to dispel it. In ancient times, with backward command systems, soldiers' psychology was extremely susceptible to influence. Even in modern times, withdrawing in the face of the enemy is exceedingly dangerous; the slightest carelessness leads to a rout spanning a thousand li. When Chen Xin last attacked Fuzhou unsuccessfully, he had to be cautious against just a few hundred Later Jin cavalry, arranging infantry and cavalry in turns to provide cover at advantageous positions—let alone now, with the Later Jin army exhausted and their horses spent.

The two routes of the Jianzhou bandits were separated by great mountains and unable to communicate in time. The Later Jin troops heading toward Xiuyan were equally afraid of being caught by the Dengzhou Garrison cavalry turning back. They merely probed once, and upon encountering slight resistance, turned and fled.

The Later Jin troops retreating toward Fuzhou suffered attacks along the way from Dengzhou mountain troops and special operations units. The retreating Later Jin troops, anxious to withdraw, tried to chase down those skirmishers, giving the skirmishers enormous room to operate. Dengzhou's mountain troops even directly attacked Later Jin columns on the march, causing great panic among the Later Jin soldiers.

The cavalry tailed closely behind the main Later Jin force, constantly forming up by company into charging postures, slowing the speed of the Later Jin rearguard. If the main force retreating ahead moved too fast, the rearguard would be cut off and then face large-scale cavalry attacks. The Dengzhou cavalry clung like a tail, firmly following behind.

The Dengzhou dragoons also displayed great prowess. Their maneuver speed could keep up with the cavalry, while their firearms' range exceeded that of bows. They continuously closed in on the Later Jin rearguard, using their range advantage to kill Later Jin soldiers. Whenever the Later Jin rearguard fell behind, they would concentrate firepower to strike the formations of those Later Jin troops, creating conditions for a cavalry charge.

Huang Taiji deeply understood the severity of the situation. Not daring to entrust the rearguard duty to the various Banner Lords, he personally led the rearguard, controlling the entire army's marching speed to prevent the rearguard from being nibbled away piece by piece. Even so, the Later Jin army suffered continuous losses under the pursuers' relentless attacks. They abandoned more and more baggage, and the few remaining red-barbarian cannons were discarded once again. In the end, only one cannon, the "Heaven-Blessed Might-Assisting Great General" firing seven-catty iron balls, made it to Fuzhou.

Harassed by the pursuers, the Later Jin army covered only fifty li that day. When they set up camp at night, Dengzhou's customary night raid arrived right on schedule. This raid, though not particularly fierce, triggered a camp panic among the Ujen Cooha. The nearby bondservants were killed in the chaos. By dawn, the Ujen Cooha camp was full of corpses, and few of these Han soldiers remained.

The continuous bleeding attacks persisted all the way to the Fuzhou River, where a final round of offense and defense took place at the riverbank. Huang Taiji deployed the Mandarian Duck Formation ironclad troops captured at Dalinghe, now expanded to three hundred men. Their treatment in the Later Jin was even better than that of ordinary surplus personnel, and their will to fight was quite resolute. They repelled the attacking Dengzhou cavalry. The firearms they used were also flintlocks, and they engaged the dragoons who arrived soon after. Both sides suffered casualties, but they ultimately managed to stop the Dengzhou troops from crossing the river. The terrain outside Fuzhou was more suited for cavalry operations, and the Later Jin troops finally gained a firm footing at the Fuzhou River (Shahe), withstanding Dengzhou Garrison's unstoppable pursuit.

From Jinzhou to Fuzhou, the Later Jin army paid a price of over a thousand more men, including over four hundred true Jurchens, three hundred Mongols, and one hundred casualties among the three hundred Mandarian Duck Formation soldiers Huang Taiji had incorporated from Zu Dashou's ironclad infantry.

The Later Jin army, which had arrived with such aggressive momentum a month earlier, returned to Fuzhou utterly crestfallen. Both sides returned to their pre-battle postures, but the balance of power had greatly changed.

In the entire Lushun offensive campaign, the Later Jin army lost 4,900 true Jurchens, 5,200 Mongols, over 13,000 bondservants, the Ujen Cooha were nearly annihilated, and only five hundred of the Heaven-Blessed Army remained. They also lost two thousand horses, and twelve hundred oxen and donkeys. The red-barbarian cannons were almost entirely lost, and supplies and tents were nearly all discarded.

The Dengzhou Garrison opposite them had all its military farms destroyed. Lushun would have no harvest this year. They lost a total of 1,100 combat soldiers and auxiliary troops killed, with over two thousand wounded, including seven hundred severely wounded. But the Dengzhou army had gained fifteen thousand veterans tested by the battlefield. Chen Xin had a steady stream of refugees to draw upon, producing qualified replacements through his soldier assembly line. Combined with these veterans possessing real combat experience, this formed a massive and ferocious army—provided, of course, that Chen Xin had enough silver and grain.

In the Lushun campaign lasting over a month, Dengzhou Garrison single-handedly resisted the entire Later Jin army, heavily damaging the Later Jin main force, and had gained the strategic advantage in Liaonan. The Later Jin army did not even hold Jinzhou, a situation even better than what Chen Xin had anticipated. He had originally estimated that several seesaw battles might be needed, but the Later Jin's ability to withstand attacks was even lower than his estimate; it was uncertain how much longer even Fuzhou could be held.

Among the northern regimes of past dynasties, the Later Jin's strength ranked at the very bottom, far inferior to the historical Xiongnu, Rouran, Jin, Liao, and Mongols. Nurhaci's brutal policies had hollowed out Liaodong's foundation, leaving their inherent strength low, relying entirely on that one battle-hardened army. They had been severely beaten by Dengzhou Garrison a few times before, but those were small-scale engagements, for which excuses could be made and the impact was relatively limited. This time, however, they had come with their entire army, and the audience included bondservants and Mongols. There was no covering it up. The Later Jin had always used military force to intimidate the Mongol tribes and Han people. Once their tiger skin of invincibility was torn off, they would soon be beset by crises on all sides...

After a day of standoff at the Fuzhou River, Dengzhou Garrison withdrew to Jinzhou. Along the way, they collected the spoils of war, carting away all the weapons and armor. They also searched and captured several hundred scattered bondservants on the road, escorting them all back to Jinzhou, while the Later Jin troops did not dare to pursue at all.

The force that landed at Niangniang Temple in Fuzhou was merely a decoy unit, no more than a single company commander's detachment. After the Dengzhou cavalry withdrew, they also quickly fled. Chen Xin assumed a posture of active defense. The mountain troops and special operations units remained active on the east bank of the Fuzhou River. The Third Battalion was stationed at Pingyang River to provide support. The Second Battalion controlled the mountainous area northeast of Jinzhou and swept along the line of Hongzui Fort. The Later Jin troops along the Liaodong coast fled in panic, retreating all the way back to Xiuyan.

Dengzhou Garrison mobilized the captured bondservants and Mongols to repair Jinzhou and began constructing watchtowers in the surrounding area, preparing to formally control the Jinzhou Isthmus. Chen Xin's confidence was also solidified. The prestige of the Jianzhou bandits had indeed once affected his mindset, but now there was nothing left to fear. If the Jianzhou bandits dared to come again, Chen Xin planned to carry out a full mobilization in Denglai and fight a decisive battle with the Later Jin army at the Jinzhou Isthmus.

After deciding to hold the Jinzhou Isthmus firmly, all Lushun units assembled at Jinzhou, turning Nanguan and Jinzhou into one large military camp and construction site. The ports at Qingniwa and east of Nanguan also began construction. The Military Affairs Department supervised the work, striving to transport enough grain before winter.

At this time, Dengzhou Garrison had already become the strongest garrison in the Great Ming, leaving even the traditionally strongest Nine Border Garrisons far behind. The Nine Border elites fled at the mere sight of the Jianzhou bandits, while Dengzhou Garrison not only dealt the Jianzhou bandits a head-on blow but also pursued them for three hundred li. This time, they obtained over three thousand heads of true Jurchens, captured over three hundred, along with large numbers of Mongols and bondservants. Chen Xin guessed that that scoundrel Wu Xiang would be coming again. Thinking of the expression of shock with his mouth agape that Wu Xiang would surely have, Chen Xin felt immensely pleased with himself.

Beyond the battlefield lay places where even greater benefits could be gained than on the battlefield itself. In chaotic times, military force was a better credit guarantee than gold. During the month-long campaign, with the Propaganda Bureau's publicity offensive, countless military reports spread along trade routes to all corners of the Great Ming. The name of Dengzhou's enemy began to subtly enter the hearts of the common people.

Chen Xin was busy in Jinzhou with post-battle matters. Every day, he attended summary and improvement meetings of the various departments and battalions, discussed Jinzhou's defense layout with Liu Pojun, Li Donghua, and others. Post-battle pensions, medal awards, and so on also required Chen Xin's presence, keeping him extremely busy...

On the fifteenth day of the ninth month, a bird boat docked at the estuary east of the Nanguan River. Liu Minyou, wearing a leather hat, walked down onto the newly restored Nanguan pier. Chen Xin intended to formally manage the Jinzhou Isthmus. Previously, Jinzhou could be abandoned at any time, and civil administration had not sent personnel to manage it; it was effectively under military control. Now, of course, civil administration had to be brought in. So Chen Xin had written an urgent letter to Liu Minyou, asking him to bring civil administration personnel to make more detailed plans.

Liu Minyou reached out into the air for a moment, already feeling the intense cold. He sighed softly. The winter snows of the Little Ice Age often came very early, and the climate frequently exhibited extreme anomalies. Guangdong and Fujian in the south, where it never snowed, experienced eight consecutive days of snow in the late Ming. Hainan Island had snow over a foot thick. In Yunnan, people still froze to death in the sixth month. Besides heavy snow, there were also great droughts. Just this year, the sixth year of Chongzhen, Shanxi and Shaanxi suffered another severe drought. A dou of rice cost a thousand coins, and cannibalism among the people was no longer rare.

The world Liu Minyou was in was experiencing the coldest period since the dawn of human civilization, and it was at its very peak, a peak that happened to end precisely in the seventeenth year of Chongzhen. Liu Minyou did not really believe in the Mandate of Heaven, but the fate of the Great Ming had many inexplicable coincidences, a feeling that was especially strong now that he was here, in this place and time.

Looking back further along the long river of history, the invincible Mongol Empire had brought an end to the Southern Song. From some Song dynasty books he had read in recent years, the Southern Song was more open than the Ming, and had already begun turning toward the sea, seemingly possessing a greater potential for the sprouting of capitalism. Zhu Yuanzhang drove out the Mongols but absorbed much of the dross from the Mongol Yuan political system.

The late Ming government's complete loss of control over the grassroots level allowed late Ming thought, economy, and technology to develop greatly, yet its military and finances fell into a state of exceptional weakness, leaving the state's power completely unable to be mobilized. The flaws in the top-level system, pervasive corruption, the Little Ice Age, and the Later Jin—these factors intertwined and gave rise to the ultimate terminator: the roving bandits. This caused the last Han Chinese regime to come to an abrupt halt in the peak year of the Little Ice Age, turning into a semi-barbaric, semi-ignorant colony. If the late Ming government had possessed even thirty percent of the Southern Song's mobilization capacity, the Jianzhou bandits would never have stood a chance.

Liu Minyou shook his head. He did not know if Heaven had deliberately drawn a three-hundred-millimeter rainfall line, using that very line to limit the civilizational development of this land.

Wu Xiang's figure appeared at the bow of another ship. This merchant-general had a keen sense of smell. Judging from the Dengzhou military reports that the Jianzhou bandits were likely in trouble, he had once again rushed to Dengzhou. He knew no one on the military side, so he had to seek out Liu Minyou. Liu Minyou had no fondness for Liaozhen, but his personal impression of Wu Xiang was decent. This man was very good at socializing. He was most likely here to discuss business with Chen Xin. He had specifically changed his landing point to Nanguan, thus avoiding the restricted area of Lushun.

Liu Minyou walked down the gangplank. Several officers were waiting below.

"My lord, your subordinate is Staff Officer Zhu Feng from the Military Orders Department, sent specifically to receive you. Lord Liu, will you be taking a carriage or riding a horse?" Below the gangplank was a young officer. After saluting, he looked at Liu Minyou with a face full of smiles.

"Riding a horse," Liu Minyou said, then smiled as he sized up the staff officer before him. "Zhu Feng, you're different from when you were at the vocational school. You've filled out quite a bit."

Zhu Feng said a few modest words, then led Liu Minyou across the pier, smiling as they walked. "So my lord still remembers your subordinate. Back then, when Lord Liu came to teach in person, this humble one remembers it vividly. But my lord is busy with important matters, so this humble one thought my lord had forgotten."

Liu Minyou laughed heartily. "You are the hope of Dengzhou Garrison. I still remember many of the students. Many from the literacy class back then are now serving as backbone in various departments. You were first in the class that year. Later, the workshop wanted you, but you insisted on joining the army. That's why I remember this."

By now they had reached the place where the horses were tethered. Several men from the General's Guard were waiting there. They all knew Liu Minyou. After saluting him, they led over a fine horse.

Only then did Zhu Feng say to Liu Minyou, "This humble one had no other thoughts at the time. The workshop offered higher wages, but this humble one just wanted to fight. Back then, Chief Training Officer Huang came to the school to speak, saying that a man should take up the hooked blade single-handedly and sweep away all injustice under heaven, that being a soldier of Dengzhou Garrison was the most glorious time under heaven, and that the fate of all under heaven rested on our shoulders. This humble one was deeply inspired and resolved to join the army. Many classmates are also in the army. Among those who distinguished themselves this time, two are in the rocket troops."

Liu Minyou patted him encouragingly on the shoulder. However, he had never had a good impression of that student Huang Side, so he did not comment on Huang Side's words. He merely encouraged Zhu Feng, "Every profession has its use. The workshop may also change the world in the future. But with the realm in such chaos now, the army is indeed a place for men to prove themselves. Do your best under Lord Chen."

Zhu Feng responded happily, his smile as radiant as sunlight. Liu Minyou also smiled, then turned back to Wu Xiang and cupped his hands. "General Wu, please wait a while at the pier. This is the defense zone of Dengzhou's Left Corps. Without Lord Chen's permission, it would be quite inconvenient for General Wu to go to Jinzhou. I must ask you to remain at the pier. Someone here will provide for the general's meals and lodging. Fortunately, it is not far from Jinzhou; perhaps within a day, someone will come to receive you."

"Lord Liu, please go ahead. That you could bring this humble official here is already a great help." Wu Xiang was as graceful and poised as ever, not minding in the slightest.

After bidding farewell to Wu Xiang, Liu Minyou mounted the horse and galloped off toward Jinzhou with the several officers. (To be continued...)