Chapter 1277: How to Become a Loyal Martyr, Part Three

When Shang Kexi and Kong Tingxun began their attack from Wu Sangui's core army, their hearts were in their throats. They were terrified that Liu Sheng and Wu Guogui, the two army commanders who were Wu Sangui's trusted men, would press their victory and turn straight to pursuit, snatching away the chance for the two of them, mere irregulars, to win merit and rewards.

Irregulars have a hard lot, and irregulars with no backing have it even harder — and the two of them were irregulars who had once gone over to the Tartars and served as traitors to the Han!

And what was more, they had sold out their master for glory!

Back then, the Zhu Emperor spared them because they had sold out their master — sold out their Tartar master, Shunzhi!

Though the ones they betrayed were Tartars, it was still betraying one's master! Was there any lord in the world who liked the sort that first sold out his country and then sold out his master? The Zhu Emperor was still using them because he kept his word, because he honored his promises and did not wish to smash his own signboard.

And they themselves had to know their place, had to know when to quit while they were ahead. Otherwise, even if the Zhu Emperor did not go looking for fault to punish them, he could still make life hard for them!

In truth, life was already hard enough for them now. How many years had it been since these two warlords went over to the Zhu Emperor? To this day they did not even have a territory of their own, merely hanging onto the empty title of the Chuanbian Garrison.

Although the court issued their pay according to a standard of some ten-odd thousand men — later raised to twenty thousand at Wu Sangui's request — with no arrears and no ministry fees, since the pay was transferred by bank and no silver was drawn from the Ministry of Revenue's treasury, there were of course no ministry fees.

But they had no territory and no subject population, so they had no way to recruit troops. According to the "Statute on Feudatory Garrisons" promulgated by the Zhu Emperor in the early years of Hongxing, a feudatory garrison might recruit on its own when vacancies appeared in its unit establishment. But a feudatory garrison could not go recruiting on another feudatory garrison's territory without authorization, still less recruit on the court's directly administered territory without an imperial decree.

Besides recruiting, a feudatory garrison could also maintain hereditary military households. The Ming court's directly administered army no longer had hereditary military households. But the feudatory garrisons still retained the hereditary military household system — yet maintaining hereditary military households also required territory!

Shang and Kong had no territory, so they had no way to properly maintain their military households, and no way to build up a force of fathers, sons, and brothers within their own system.

So the two unlucky fellows had no way to replenish their armies.

And the officers and men under them were not iron men who could not be killed, nor had they eaten Tang Monk's flesh, so they could not live forever. After going over to the Zhu Emperor, their losses went unreplaced. Had Wu Sangui not lent a hand, the two of them would long since have gambled away their strength, and there would be no warlord left for them to be.

But was Wu Sangui really so kind? He helped the Chuanbian Garrison replenish its army only so that one day he could squeeze out Shang Kexi and Kong Tingxun and then swallow the Chuanbian Garrison whole.

Still, it was unlikely that Wu Sangui would take it upon himself to swallow the Chuanbian Garrison. He already had more than enough territory and troops; adding one more Chuanbian Garrison would only invite suspicion. This was most likely that promise-keeping Zhu Emperor up to mischief again! He would not play the villain himself, but had Wu Sangui step forward, and after the deed was done he would take the Chuanbian Garrison back from Wu Sangui.

Shang Kexi and Kong Tingxun, knowing this perfectly well, dared not — and could not — resist Wu Sangui's nibbling annexation. They could only retreat step by step, asking only for a dignified exit: a title of nobility, a somewhat grander empty official post, and if they could also get a bit of silver, so much the better.

And to get a dignified exit, they had to have merit!

Shang Kexi, having received Wu Sangui's order, breathed a sigh of relief and said to Kong Tingxun, "Worthy nephew, it seems the Duke of Liang still remembers the merits and hardships of these past few years of ours!"

Kong Tingxun laughed. "There must also be His Majesty's intent in this!"

Shang Kexi smiled and nodded. "Worthy nephew, the opportunity is given by others, but the merit must be won by ourselves. This vanguard..."

"Leave the vanguard to your nephew!" Kong Tingxun cupped his hands with a smile. "Your nephew is best with cavalry, best at pursuing the enemy! Let your nephew take the cavalry ahead, while you, sir, bring up the main body of infantry behind!"

"Good, good, good. Then this old man will lead the infantry behind and watch my worthy nephew win merit!" Shang Kexi spoke politely, but in his heart he was clear as a mirror: he knew Kong Tingxun wanted to snatch the credit from him. But Shang Kexi had no way to contend with him, because Kong Tingxun still had a younger sister, Kong Sizhen, serving Zhu Cilang in the palace. Though she held no real position, it still counted as having someone at court!

Kong Tingxun cupped his hands, called out "Orders received!", and then detailed three cavalry battalions to follow him toward Dasan Pass, which Wu Sangui's army had already taken.

The basic tactical unit of a Ming feudatory garrison army was the battalion — the court army's basic tactical unit was the regiment — and a battalion's fighting strength usually ranged from three to five hundred men. Cavalry battalions had somewhat fewer fighting men, though more auxiliaries, while infantry battalions had more fighting men.

Because they had long fought in mountainous terrain, Shang Kexi's and Kong Tingxun's Chuanbian Army had few cavalry — three battalions in all, and what could now be fielded was just over a thousand horse. These thousand-odd horse were not the black cavalry who skirmished and fired from cover, nor the cuirassier lancers responsible for shock charges, but traditional feudal cavalry: each knight had an estate on the territory of the Xining Guard — all granted by Wu Sangui — and relied on the estate to support his training and service, though they also drew pay from Shang Kexi and Kong Tingxun.

The tactics these cavalry employed also differed from the new-style black cavalry and lancers. They did not emphasize massed shock like the cuirassier lancers, nor did they adopt the flexible, changeable tactics of the black cavalry. But these horsemen were all skilled in mounted archery and close combat, and their mounted marksmanship was of two kinds: shooting arrows from horseback, and firing guns from horseback — every cavalryman was equipped with at least one flintlock pistol!

Moreover, this cavalry was equipped with half-plate armor, giving them an enormous advantage in close combat and against enemy arrows!

The only unsatisfactory point was that their warhorses were somewhat inferior: no folded-ear horses and no Arabians, only Hequ horses from Qinghai. Still, they could manage one man with two horses, and when they rode out of Dasan Pass they still gave an impression of fierce invincibility.

Kong Tingxun felt very good too. Escorted by several dozen Kong family retainers, he rode a rather tall Hequ horse behind his own cavalry. Watching the glittering ranks of horsemen ahead marching in column and fording the Dasan River, he could not help feeling a little pleased with himself.

This was a full thousand genuine iron cavalry! Had this been in the days when the Great Qing still stood, these men would at least have been a match for the Red Armored Troops!

With such elite troops in hand, this was the moment to win merit and build a career! Kong Tingxun thought to himself: My demands are not high. If I can get a hereditary, perpetually inheritable marquisate of the Overcoming Difficulties class, I will be fully satisfied.

"Ada, Wu Sangui's armored cavalry is in pursuit. Over a thousand iron horsemen, equipped with flintlock pistols, and able to dismount and fight hand-to-hand. Your son cannot hold them off!"

Li Dingguo, who was withdrawing south along the Sanguan Road, received word of the approaching pursuers from his son Li Puxing on the morning of the day after his evacuation of Dasan Pass — the twenty-fourth day of the first month of the first year of Dongping Daxing. After withdrawing from Dasan Pass, Li Puxing had been given the rearguard order, leading over a thousand picked troops — mounted infantry — to cover the retreat, fighting and falling back. Though his rearguard was roughly equal in numbers to the pursuers, its fighting strength was somewhat inferior, and its morale was low, so it could not hold.

"How many men lost?" Li Dingguo frowned, looking at his son, whose face was weary, whose armor still had several broken arrows stuck in it, and whose face was blackened by powder smoke. "How far have they pursued?"

"We fought several engagements and lost one or two hundred brothers, and also lost quite a few Sichuan horses. By the time your son got away, they had just passed Guapai Mountain." Li Puxing said, "Your son left two companies of troops lying in ambush at Huangniu Pu and Changtan Ba. They should be able to hold them for a while."

The Sanguan Road was simply a route following the Dasan River through mountain gullies, with great mountains on both sides of the road, and plenty of places to set up checkpoints and ambushes. But these great mountains were not untrodden wilderness; they were cultivated land that had been developed for two thousand years, so many small paths had already been opened up for outflanking maneuvers. Long-term defense was troublesome, but delaying the enemy for a short time was not difficult.

"Ada, your son reckons this thousand Ming armored cavalry can catch up within a day," Li Puxing then asked, "Where are we going to set the ambush this time?"

Li Dingguo glanced at him and laughed. "What's the hurry? A mere thousand horse! Such a fine opportunity, and we trade it for just a thousand of their cavalry?"

"Ada, how many horse do you want to trade for?"

Li Dingguo smiled. "I want Wu Sangui's head!"

"Th-that's hardly possible, is it? He is the Governor-General of Sichuan and Shaanxi!"

Li Dingguo laughed. "That is why I intend to give Feng County town and the strategic point of Maling Pass to these pursuers!"

(End of Chapter)