Chapter 538: A Call to Arms

On the eighth day of the seventh month, Chen Xin made a final confirmation of the transport arrangements with Liu Minyou in his office. The movement of the army would be completed within the month, with follow-up supplies shipped in the eighth and ninth months, in case the fighting dragged into winter. Although Chen Xin did not think Huang Taiji would dare do that, as overall commander he could not ignore the risk, even if it meant spending considerably more money and manpower.

After reviewing everything, Chen Xin said to Liu Minyou, "That's the sum of it. We've wagered most of our old capital. I myself think the odds of winning are fairly good, but until the last moment of a battle, no one dares claim a sure victory."

Liu Minyou smiled. "Huang Taiji is probably just as eager for us to go fight a decisive battle. Right now it's obvious — the Later Jin's strategy is extremely passive. Without a decisive victory to change things, they'll simply be dragged to their doom."

Chen Xin tossed the document in his hand onto the table. "For me, a decisive battle or a major engagement is not the best option. If not for those roving bandits, I'd rather just wear Huang Taiji down like this. We underestimated the destructive nature of those bandits before... Forget it, let's not talk about that."

"On the military side, who will hold Dengzhou?"

"Li Donghua."

Liu Minyou was not surprised. Li Donghua had fled from Dongjiang in the second year of Chongzhen; his loyalty was beyond question. He now managed the Bureau of Military Affairs, had more seniority than the director of the Mobilization Bureau, and knew the terrain and situation of the three prefectures of Deng, Lai, and Qing like the back of his hand — he was the most suitable candidate.

Liu Minyou looked at the order of battle before him. On it was even the provisional company of Military Academy cadets led by Dai Zhenggang, numbering only three hundred men, likewise to be deployed to Liaodong — the smallest independent combat unit.

Chen Xin said quietly, "There's no problem with Dai Zhenggang. This is simply to let the cadets who went directly from the vocational school to the Military Academy gain battlefield experience."

"Can he no longer command troops? There are many combat battalions this time, and many axes of advance. Veteran officers with his experience and seniority are few."

Chen Xin paused briefly, then said slowly, "Perhaps Dai Zhenggang no longer wishes to lead troops. Let him take the Military Academy student-soldiers and train them. We are not short of men to lead troops. Wang Mafu will arrive soon — I sent the transfer order back in the fourth month. He's been tempering himself for two years; his experience is even richer than Dai Zhenggang's." Chen Xin spoke evenly. "Zhu Guobin, Wang Zhangfu, Wang Mafu, Zheng Sanhu, Zhong Laosi — all can hold their own command. And there are rising talents like Zhu Feng. As long as we have a sound system, the army will never lack outstanding officers."

"Then only Zhu Daichun is left in Wuchang?"

Chen Xin said, "The various bureaus have already set up offices in Wuchang. Leaving one Zhu Daichun is no problem. If things go smoothly, it won't be for long. After we defeat the Jianzhou bandits, our military focus will shift to the Grand Canal and Huguang, while the Civil Affairs Department's focus shifts to Liaodong."

Liu Minyou picked up another booklet. "There are still several hundred thousand Han people in Liaodong. The policy toward them should be screening and retention, with those guilty of minor crimes put to collective labor. Ordinary bondservants can be given land and turned into garrison households. That way we can quickly gain population and establish a grassroots administration in central Liao."

Chen Xin nodded. "You decide that. But this must be coordinated with the military operations. The army is not familiar with civil affairs. If the campaign concludes in winter but no civil affairs officials take over Liaodong, the entire winter may pass without things being sorted out. If things aren't sorted out, people will starve."

"The bulk of civil affairs personnel being transferred to Liaodong has been selected — one thousand in total: three hundred reserve garrison chiefs and bureau clerks, three hundred workshop personnel, one hundred from the trading company, and the rest from general stores, the shipping company, and so on. Relative to the number of Han people in Liaodong, it's still far too few, and military assistance will be needed. Another issue is that grain supplies may be insufficient. The Han population figures for Liaodong came from the Intelligence Bureau, sourced from inside lines within the Later Jin, but each Later Jin banner has a habit of concealing able-bodied individuals. Exactly how many Han there are is still unclear. If the campaign drags into early next year, the thirty thousand dan of grain the Civil Affairs Department has planned is to support the Dengzhou Army's operations. These bondservants may face some grain difficulties before the spring thaw."

"If we take Liaodong, those Later Jin nobles should have considerable grain stores. The barbarian households generally have horses and cattle — slaughter them and feed the bondservants. If that's still not enough, we'll buy from the Liaoxi side then. I'll have Yang Yun go discuss it with Wu Xiang this afternoon."

Liu Minyou looked up. "Speaking of those barbarian households — I haven't attended the military meetings lately, so it's a good time to ask. What does the military intend to do with the ordinary barbarian households in Liaodong?"

Chen Xin winked at Liu Minyou. "We are not the Jianzhou bandits; we can't engage in that kind of savage policy. They are all Later Jin combatants. Those who surrender won't be killed for the time being, and will be slowly tried afterward. Killing in battle is one thing, enslaving bondservants is another, but the war crime of slaughtering common people cannot go untried. All adult male true barbarians will be uniformly tried. As for the trials, we can do them the way you experimented with at Aoshan Guard — set up a tribunal in each area, with juries made up of those bondservants, and judges from Dengzhou."

Liu Minyou pointed a finger in the air at Chen Xin. "You really know how to use a tool, thinking of juries at a time like this, shifting all the responsibility onto them. Then what about the women and underage males?"

Chen Xin pondered for a moment. "That's a thorny matter. I originally thought of concentrating them for re-education, but after further thought, that's not very secure. Better to scatter them among the various garrison villages. After ten-odd years, they'll have assimilated."

Liu Minyou shook his head. "You know perfectly well what the outcome of those barbarian trials will be. Years of oppression by the barbarians have long made the Han people detest them bitterly. Now, with another round of trials and executions for the barbarians, the hatred in between will be impossible to erase. If they're scattered into the garrison villages, mutual hostility is certain. In particular, there will be no shortage of Han people waiting for a chance to take revenge. I'm afraid the police won't be enough."

Chen Xin spread his hands and smiled. "I can't have them migrate en masse either. The areas around Liaodong are places we'll need to conquer later; we can't make things harder for the future. So for now, there's no better solution. They oppressed the bondservants for years — those hundreds of thousands of bondservants survived only by enduring humiliation and bearing heavy burdens. The refugees from Henan, Shanxi, and Shandong who want to come to Denglai to join us likewise have to make long, arduous treks on their own — was the hardship and danger along the way any less? And no one separated the able-bodied men from the women and children for them. That's just how the world is. Having a path to survival is already good enough. We're not even applying collective punishment to them; surely we don't have to feed them well and provide for them. If these people want to live, they'll have to rely on honestly doing their work inside the garrison villages."

On the eleventh day of the seventh month, outside the new port west of Dengzhou's Water City, a sea of people had gathered. Several thousand soldiers in red military uniforms sang army songs as they formed ranks on the parade ground outside the new port. This was a harbor newly built after the Dengzhou Army took over, originally used for shipping tobacco, and after expansion became the Wenden naval camp's station in Dengzhou. This new port was not as large as the old Water City, and its walls were not brick-faced.

Today, the unit heading to southern Liao was the First Guards Battalion, which had always been Chen Xin's core force for stabilizing Dengzhou's prefectural seat. It had been briefly deployed to Liaodong for combat and was normally used to overawe other factions in Dengzhou.

Among Dengzhou's military forces, the Provincial Governor had three battalions under his command. After the Dengzhou Rebellion, Chen Xin had placed Geng Zhongming inside the Governor's Personal Battalion. After taking control of the Dengzhou Army, he continued to divide the Personal Battalion, constantly placing grassroots officers of Dengzhou Army origin into it, hollowing out the authority of both Assistant Regional Commanders. Those two Assistant Regional Commanders were busy running their own trading company businesses and dared not provoke the Dengzhou Army. Though the Personal Battalion had not completely fallen under Chen Xin's control, it existed in name only. That was why Wang Tingshi had brought in Liu Zeqing from outside back then — who in the end was also underhandedly dealt with by Chen Xin.

After Wang Tingshi offered his resignation, he cooperated with Chen Xin in replacing a batch of officers, and more posts fell into Dengzhou Army hands. After Yang Wenyue arrived, he made no move to change the status quo. Now the Personal Battalion was of no consequence to Dengzhou. Chen Xin had mobilized five reserve soldier commands in Penglai, Qixia, and Laiyang, and these troops were transferred into Dengzhou to relieve the First Guards Battalion, committing this veteran elite brigade to the decisive battle in southern Liao.

Amid the sky-filling, majestic singing, Chen Ying stood silently at attention in the front row, his head held high. He was now a Squad Commander in the Second Company of the First Battalion, First Guards Battalion. He had never left the Guards Battalion. Back then, Zhong Laosi had wanted to transfer him to the Fifth Battalion, but Wang Zhangfu had not agreed, and Chen Ying himself had not wanted to go, because what he wanted most was still to return to Liaodong and fight the Later Jin.

Chen Ying's hometown was Fenghuang City in Liaodong, now already recovered by the Dengzhou Army. But the First Guards Battalion had been slow to be deployed to southern Liao. Although Chen Ying had already married and had children in Dengzhou, the attachment to his native soil could never be replaced. In his midnight dreams, he always returned to Liaodong, to the scenes of Fenghuang City.

According to the message circulated within the army this time, the Dengzhou Army would launch its largest-scale autumn offensive operation. Though it was not called a decisive battle, Chen Ying, long seasoned in warfare, also knew of the recent movements of certain other battalions and had long guessed in his heart that it was a decisive battle with the Jianzhou bandits. When the relief took place yesterday and he discovered that the troops taking over Dengzhou's defense were reserve soldiers, his guess became even firmer.

The scene of his family leaving their home to receive blades was one he would never forget as long as he lived. Events buried deep in his heart for over a decade surfaced before his eyes one after another. Hatreds that had grown somewhat blurred were sharpening into clarity again.

Chen Ying's eyes reddened slightly. He glanced to the right front, where the families of the Second Company were gathered. His wife and concubine were among them, and they had brought his two sons. A smile surfaced on Chen Ying's face again — this was his home in Dengzhou.

The eighteen-foot Regional Commander's red banner approached from the east. Chen Xin, escorted by his guard cavalry, entered the parade ground. He still wore that suit of mountain-pattern armor, looking extremely imposing, surrounded by a number of high-ranking civil and military officials.

Chen Ying hurriedly raised his head, stood at attention, and fixed his gaze straight ahead. The surrounding commoners also gradually fell silent. Chen Xin calmly ascended the reviewing platform, faced the formation below, and slowly swept his gaze over the more than four thousand officers and soldiers. The red blocks were orderly and brimming with killing intent.

By custom, Chen Xin would deliver a motivational address. Chen Ying was a mid-ranking officer, and during reviews his position was always in the front row, so this time he could hear clearly. He saw Chen Xin stand firm, survey the troops, and then begin to speak.

"The Jianzhou slave Nurhaci is the leftover spawn of a slave fostered by our Great Ming. At first, he clung to the Liao commander Li Chengliang as a groom under the saddle, wagging his tail and begging for pity like a starving mastiff seeking food; kowtowing and pounding his head like garlic, his wretched countenance comparable to a louse stealing a living. In the end, pitying his orphaned and wretched state as a stray, he was granted a corner of the eastern frontier, a place to eke out a living by the border, given a means of survival — spring sowing provisions, winter warm clothing — all from the surplus of His Majesty's universal grace. The slave, instead of reflecting on the Han people's nurturing kindness, secretly harbored the wild ambitions of a wolf cub, and seized the half-gap during the Korean campaign to steal arms and raid the frontier. To this day, it has been over twenty years!

Now the slave chieftain Huang Taiji is the sole egg left unbroken by heaven's smiting of the old slave. He rides armed and raises troops, raiding the passes and invading, never reflecting on his forefathers' repeated debt of the Great Ming's profound grace, but instead coveting the abundant wealth accumulated over generations in the Central Plains. Ignorant of his own impoverished virtue from exhausting his army and lacking righteousness, he dares to eye the divine tripod of the sacred realm's imperial succession, sending swarms to plunder and loot, like locusts sweeping through, toppling cities and destroying ramparts, scattering countless families, raising fires that scorch the heavens, plunging the people into misery.

Is this to bully our Divine Land in its time of turmoil, we men who bear the halberd?..." (To be continued.)

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