Chapter 452: Zoumayi

"Is this the Yang Family Generals they talk about in the martial studies?"

On Majuan Hill west of Daoma Pass, Zhong Lao stood before a white marble stele, roughly six chi tall, carved with nine large characters: "The Place Where Song General Yang Liulang Held His Defense."

The Dragon Cavalry's instruction officer gently stroked his beard. "I have heard that Yang Liulang guarded the three passes for over twenty years — truly a model for us soldiers..."

"What model? Yang Liulang dared to fight the Liao troops to the death — I, Zhong Lao, can respect that. But holding on for twenty-plus years without striking out — that I don't respect. As Lord Chen says, an army exists to attack. Any form of passive defense is useless, unless it's meant to set up a counterattack."

The instruction officer, once again rebuffed by Zhong Lao, looked at him with some displeasure. "Vice Battalion Commander Zhong, well, Yang Liulang was only a general. The Song-Liao war was a conflict between two states — it wasn't up to Yang Liulang to fight however he pleased. There had to be an overall strategic view, a..."

"Enough." Zhong Lao cut him off. "Let's not say such things today, or we'll just end up arguing again. After we pay respects to Yang Liulang, we head straight down the mountain. Tomorrow we enter Shanxi. Today we hold the final battle council."

The instruction officer did not argue with Zhong Lao. The group brought out beef, mutton, and fruit, arranged them before the Yang Liulang stele, lit incense and candles, and the instruction officer led them in paying homage.

Paying homage to heroes of Huaxia at suitable sites was also one of the instruction officer's duties. As long as there was no urgent mission, all officers and soldiers were required to participate, to cultivate a sense of honor in the troops.

But this mountain was two or three li from camp. Zhong Lao considered it a waste of soldiers' energy, so he only brought those of platoon leader rank and above.

After the homage was complete, Zhong Lao and the others prepared to descend. Walking eastward a stretch from the summit of Majuan Hill, the majestic fortress of Daoma Pass appeared five or six li to the east.

Daoma Pass was one of the three passes of the Inner Great Wall. The Lingqiu Road followed the Tang River valley through the Taihang Mountains. Beyond Daoma Pass lay the Jingshi plain, so it had always been a strategic chokepoint. As a fortress, Daoma Pass had walls five li in circumference and three zhang five chi high, surrounded by water on three sides and backed by mountains on one. Taking it by ordinary assault was never easy, and given the Jianzhou Bandits' siege capabilities when they entered the passes, they truly could do nothing against such a fortress.

West of Daoma Pass, peaks and ridges stretched like a sea, half-hidden in the drifting snow. Beyond this great mountain range lay Datong Prefecture, already thick with the smoke of war. Perhaps they had already reached the Taihang Mountains. The battlefield was near, yet Zhong Lao felt his mind grow somewhat calmer — unlike any of his previous combat experience.

Zhong Lao shook his head and said to the men behind him, "Furl all banners. Have the Trading Company people speak with the pass guards. No one else is permitted to leave the pass and head north. Except for the Daoma Pass garrison commander, tell everyone else we are Henan Mao troops. Only after we exit the pass may we fly the Dengzhou Garrison banners."

The instruction officer did not interfere with Zhong Lao's command. He only sighed. "The Jianzhou Bandits are right next door. I wonder what the officials of Zhending Prefecture are doing."

At the west gate of Daoma Pass, the Lingqiu Road wound in from the northwestern mountains. The main road curved in a small loop outside the west gate before entering the barbican gate. Countless commoners fleeing from Datong Prefecture were blocked outside the pass fortress, packing the nearby roads, weeping and pleading for the men on the walls to open the gate.

On the west barbican of Daoma Pass, Zhong Lao met some civil and military officials from Baoding Prefecture. These men knew the capital region's importance — any mistake would mean a reckoning come autumn — so most could still show up to organize the defense at the critical moment. But they were all civil officials; apart from exhorting the commoners to defend the city, they had no particular skills. Fortunately, a contingent of Baoding troops had come as reinforcements, and with Zhending Prefecture's forces, the defenses around Daoma Pass were still fairly stable.

At a time when the Later Jin army was bearing down in force, the officials of Zhending and Baoding Prefectures were still more reliable than the Gu'an county magistrate of years past. Faced with the sudden appearance of Dengzhou troops, they immediately provided five days' rations and hoped this force would assist in Baoding Prefecture's defense.

"I am Kong Wenshi, Vice Military Defense Circuit Intendant of Jingxing." A dignified-looking official in a fourth-rank civil court robe stood before him and addressed Zhong Lao coolly. "Does the reinforcing officer from Dengzhou Garrison have a directive from the Ministry of War?"

A Squad Commander from Daoma Pass nearby stepped closer. This man was familiar with the Trading Company and feared Zhong Lao might be rash. He said to Zhong Lao respectfully, "Circuit Intendant Kong is the sixty-second-generation descendant of the Sage Confucius, a Metropolitan Graduate of the second year of Tianqi, and has always been known for his forthrightness. He has served as a Secretariat Drafter and a Supervising Secretary in the Office of Scrutiny for Personnel, and is now Vice Military Defense Circuit Intendant of Jingxing."

"Oh." Contrary to the Squad Commander's expectations, Zhong Lao showed no surprise whatsoever. An ordinary civil official, upon hearing "descendant of the Sage Confucius," would be stunned on the spot — after years of reading only books and studying the man's words, to suddenly have a descendant of the Sage appear before one's eyes, how astonished an ordinary person would be.

But Zhong Lao never read books at all. At most he recognized a few common characters. He had heard the name Confucius, but within the atmosphere of Dengzhou Garrison, even high court officials were routinely called by name, so this distant Sage Confucius did not carry much prestige.

By the court's ranking system, Zhong Lao currently held a temporary post as Mobile Corps Commander in the Main Battalion of the Dengzhou Garrison Militia Regional Commander, concurrently serving as Vice Regional Military Commissioner of the Shandong Regional Military Commission — which made him, on paper, a high official of the deputy second rank. But this was only a deputy second rank in the military guard system; no one took it seriously.

In fact, even Zhong Lao himself did not know his own court rank. Back then, Liu Minyou had not gone to the capital, and Zhong Lao, with his fake Mobile Corps Commander title, had not gone either. Dengzhou Garrison consistently moved away from the court system. The Military Affairs Office had directly taken that set of appointment papers and never given them to Zhong Lao, so Zhong Lao did not even know he was a Mobile Corps Commander. Only now, when they had to deal with outsiders, did the Military Affairs Office find a notation in the troop register and dig up Zhong Lao's official status.

Though Zhong Lao strongly disapproved of the civil-superior, military-inferior hierarchy, he was now on someone else's turf, so he still paid his respects to Kong Wenshi as a subordinate officer. He said bluntly, "Lord Kong, the military situation is urgent. We came from Henan, dispatched by Vice Regional Commander Zhu Daichun of the Dengzhou Militia Battalion. The Ministry of War directive has not reached the army, but fighting the Tatars is never wrong. There are troops who, even with a directive, still refuse to move. Men like us, who rushed here — we are the ones truly intent on fighting the Tatars. I beg you, my lord, to tell this subordinate officer about the situation around Daoma Pass."

Kong Wenshi snorted through his nostrils, clearly dissatisfied with this brash military officer before him. First, this Dengzhou officer had shown not the slightest astonishment at his identity, which seemed to show insufficient respect for the Shandong Kong lineage. Second, his etiquette was lacking.

Still, Kong Wenshi understood the larger picture. After a brief moment of irritation, he nodded to a Mobile Corps Commander beside him. That Mobile Corps Commander was from Zhending Prefecture. He said to Zhong Lao politely, "Dengzhou Garrison is the empire's strongest army. We all trust that. But still, General Zhong, please think this through. In recent days, several waves of relay riders have come through reporting Datong in crisis, all saying the Jianzhou Bandits number as many as a hundred thousand. General Zhong has barely a thousand men. No matter how you look at it, this..."

Zhong Lao grew impatient. He restrained his temper, cupped his hands, and said, "I beg you, my lords, tell Old Zhong quickly so we can decide how to fight."

The Mobile Corps Commander pursed his lips and finally said, "Yesterday, people fleeing from Hunyuan Department and Lingqiu County arrived, saying that in recent days, the Later Jin troops have massed in Shuozhou, and the Mongols have massed in Datong, attacking day and night. In the past few days, two bands of slave-soldiers have moved — one toward Taiyuan, one toward Daoma Pass. It is unclear whether they intend to attack Taiyuan Prefecture or enter the capital region. It is fortuitous that you heroes of Dengzhou Garrison have arrived; you can help our Zhending and Baoding troops hold Daoma and Zijing, the two passes, and protect the commoners of the capital..."

Zhong Lao slapped the skirt armor on his thigh and laughed heartily. "At last, word of the Tatars. Then we of Dengzhou Garrison will go and drive them off, keep them from getting near the two passes. My lord, please give the order to open the gate."

Kong Wenshi said angrily to Zhong Lao, "This Mobile Corps Commander Zhong — below the walls, fish and dragons mingle. How do you know there are no Jianzhou spies among them? Once the gate is opened and they are let in, if someone seizes the chance to stir trouble and endanger the capital region, who can bear the responsibility? Just like Liaoyang, Shenyang, Tieling, Zunhua in years past..."

"It's not that serious. Just don't let the commoners stay inside the pass. Enter by the west gate, exit by the east gate, two hundred per group — they can all pass through in a day. As long as they are not inside the city, what harm can a few spies do to a single hair of the pass fortress? Lord Kong, are you not a descendant of the Sage Confucius? Your family's Sage Confucius said, 'The commander of three armies may be taken, but the will of a common man cannot be taken.' If we hide like turtles pulling in our heads, when the general has no courage, the soldiers have no will — the battle is lost before it is fought. We of Dengzhou Garrison will go to the front and fight. You, my lord, can stay behind and reap the credit for masterminding the strategy, and also save the commoners beneath the walls."

Kong Wenshi conferred at length with several Baoding military officers and finally agreed to open the gate and let Dengzhou Garrison march west. Zhong Lao's last obstacle was removed. From here to Datong, there would be no further obstructions — except for those Later Jin troops.

Under the gaze of Daoma Pass's entire garrison, the mere thousand-odd Dengzhou cavalry threaded through the crowded refugees outside the city and hurried along the narrow Lingqiu Road.

"Fellow countrymen of Datong Prefecture, we are Henan troops from Lin County. The Tatars destroyed your homes — we Henan troops are going now to avenge you. We will make the Tatars pay blood for blood." The instruction officers of each unit shouted as they marched, and the watching refugees cheered in unison.

"Those with nowhere to go can go to Lin County and join the military forts. We are still recruiting soldiers, and the guard battalions are also recruiting garrison households. Three li southwest of the pass fortress, our support troops are there — you can all go and join them..."

The instruction officers shouted all along the way, stopping constantly to explain to the refugees by the roadside. Crowds quickly gathered around them. The Dragon Cavalry's provost troops blocked the road, forbidding anyone from returning toward Datong. Even if there were Jianzhou spies outside Daoma Pass, they could not pass messages now, so it was useless.

The refugees listened with great excitement. In truth, this was also an idea of the Trading Company — to use refugee labor to transport grain and fodder, moving supplies from Trading Company branches across Northern Zhili to the vicinity of Zhending Prefecture, to ensure winter transport.

Below the walls, the crowd roared. Daoma Pass's garrison took advantage of this gate-opening — Dengzhou Garrison blocked the main road, no Tatars could charge through, and the refugees outside the city were able to enter in batches, pass through the fortress, and flee into Baoding Prefecture.

Zhong Lao's Dragon Cavalry advanced northwest along the Tang River valley. The Company Commander's headquarters sent out all twenty-plus scout riders and relay riders, reconnoitering along the Lingqiu Road.

Whenever they encountered fleeing people on the road, staff officers would select some with quick tongues to question. The information they got was never precise, but they could confirm that a band of Tatars was attacking Lingqiu County seat, with blue, yellow, and white banners. Several people claimed to have seen them with their own eyes, though none could remember whether the banners had white borders.

They soon covered twenty li and reached Zoumayi. Here there were three forked roads: one was the Lingqiu Road heading toward Lingqiu, one led to Guangchang County, and the other was a remote side path following the Xihe River, a tributary of the Tang River.

Zhou Shao'er's company was in the vanguard. He easily seized the Zoumayi post station, which had been abandoned except for a single postmaster. Zhong Lao arrived before the main gate of Zoumayi. This post station had thick walls and a tall fort, and inside there was a high watchtower. In fact, it had been designed as a forward strongpoint for Daoma Pass, capable of controlling this key communication route. Yet now it had been abandoned so easily — proof that no matter how good a defensive system, without a competent army, it was all in vain.

Zhong Lao surveyed the surroundings. Northwest of Zoumayi, the terrain opened up into a flat plain formed by the Tang and Xihe Rivers. To the northeast lay the road to Guangchang.

Zhou Shao'er looked at the two roads and scratched his head. Their intelligence was practically a blank slate. Most of the people who had fled this far had never actually seen the Later Jin troops; much of the news they brought was rumor passed among refugees.

According to what Zhou Shao'er had heard while clearing the way, there were twenty or thirty different versions. The most exaggerated claimed that Huang Taiji had already reached Guangchang and was leading a hundred thousand troops southward.

Zhou Shao'er asked Zhong Lao, "We rushed out of the pass in such a hurry, with no intelligence at all. This place is hard to choose. If we take the Guangchang road and a Jianzhou force comes down the Lingqiu Road, our line of retreat will be cut."

Zhong Lao pointed at Zoumayi. "Transfer a reserve infantry company here. We'll occupy this place first and stockpile grain here. Then, as a first step, we'll strike at whichever Jianzhou band is active nearby. Once we confirm the Jianzhou bandits' exact area of activity, we'll move out."

Zhou Shao'er nodded and was about to order the company to fully enter Zoumayi when the rapid clatter of hooves sounded ahead. Three scout riders came galloping down the Lingqiu Road. (To be continued...)