Chapter 126

"The Lüshun Gangfeng and Xuanfeng battalions will strike Jinzhou Fort tonight. They are expected to reach the walls by the hour of the Dragon tomorrow morning, where they will raise torches and sound gongs to intimidate the garrison. I am confident that General Zhang's plan will succeed. Therefore…"

The command tent blazed with lamplight. Huang Shi's officers were all gathered together, and Wu Mu along with the two Embroidered Uniform Guard men, Zhang Gaosheng and Chen Ruike, were also dressed in full battle gear.

"I will personally lead the Firefighting Battalion to intercept the enemy on the route the Jian slaves are certain to take as they flee north, and I will do my utmost to utterly destroy the fleeing foe."

Zhao Manxiong had already selected the location, and the plan for setting up the barricades had also been approved.

When Huang Shi finished speaking, he asked very politely, "Eunuch Wu, do you have any guidance to offer?"

"I do have a few things I'd like to ask General Huang about," Wu Mu said, thinking it would be safer to go attack Jinzhou together with the Lüshun army. "What if General Zhang fails to frighten off the Jinzhou Fort garrison? What if the Jian slaves don't take this road? General Huang, isn't there a more reliable approach we could take?"

Huang Shi paused for a moment. "Eunuch Wu, I feel that warfare and bodyguard work share some common ground. For instance, on an escort route, between the chief escort and the client, surely the chief escort is the one with more experience?"

Wu Mu thought it over and then laughed. "Fine. Today I shall listen to General Huang."

"War is perilous and battle is dangerous. Eunuch Wu, your person is worth a thousand pieces of gold. Would it not be better for you to remain here on Changsheng Island and await good news?"

"General Huang, you are mistaken," Wu Mu thought to himself. If they won, he would naturally be safe; if they lost and he had stayed behind in the rear, it would most likely displease the palace. Besides, Huang Shi was a famous general, tall and powerfully built, and did not look the sort to suffer defeat. "As Army Supervisor, it is my duty to advance and retreat together with the entire army."

Seeing that Huang Shi was about to object again, Wu Mu put on a stern face and said, "General, you don't want me to accompany the army — could there be some impropriety involved?"

"In that case, I must ask Eunuch Wu to accompany the army. But you must remain at the rear to observe the battle. If any mishap were to occur, I could not bear the responsibility."

The Firefighting Battalion crossed ashore in secret under cover of night. At dawn, five hundred combat soldiers and three hundred auxiliary soldiers set out together. After reaching the designated location, Huang Shi sent out scouts in continuous waves to reconnoiter. The combat soldiers began resting on the spot, while the auxiliary soldiers busily set to work constructing barricades and digging trenches.

"Reporting to my lord, a smoke signal has been sent from the direction of Jinzhou. General Zhang has already taken Jinzhou. As my lord predicted, it seems there was little resistance. The Jian slaves abandoned the city and fled."

The sky gradually brightened. The scouts spread out in the surrounding area finally sent back word: "Reporting to my lord, the Jian slaves are fleeing along this very road, heading straight toward our army."

At last there would be no need for a forced march to intercept them elsewhere. Huang Shi let out a breath, turned to Li Yunrui, and smiled. "Company Commander Li, you have rendered great merit this time."

"My lord flatters me." Though he said this, Li Yunrui could not help grinning from ear to ear.

Huang Shi was very satisfied with the location Zhao Manxiong had chosen. One side was a steep cliff face nearly impossible to scale, and the other side was a rushing river. Presumably, the Later Jin soldiers would be unwilling to climb mountains or ford waters while serving as live archery targets.

Blocking the Ming army's front was a crude fence cobbled together from a chaotic jumble of stones and timber. Behind the fence was a trench neither deep nor shallow. If the Later Jin army wanted to charge at full speed, let them come. Even if every one of them were a master horseman, they would still be hard-pressed to avoid stumbling.

Zhao Manxiong, who was deploying the defenses, had also frantically dug a large number of semicircular pits. The gentle slope faced the enemy's approach, while the sheer, steep side faced the Ming army's direction. This would not hinder a cavalry unit moving south, but charging north would be far more difficult.

Removing these fieldworks was also out of the question. They were only thirty meters from the Ming army's line, and the archers could cover these barricades very well. And even if the enemy slowly made their way through these obstacles — to say nothing of the long exposure to arrow fire — the distance beyond was so short that horses would have no time to accelerate.

"The New Army's first real battle. To be able to force the enemy to engage at a place of my choosing, using tactics of my choosing — this is simply perfect."

The final scout report came back: "The Jian slaves are still ten li from our army. They will be in sight shortly. Their horses are nearly spent; they are advancing at a slow walk."

"You weren't discovered, were you?"

"My lord, rest assured. We were all extremely cautious."

"Good." Huang Shi immediately ordered He Baodao's cavalry unit to withdraw far away to one side to rest and conserve their strength.

"Fall in —"

The Firefighting Battalion soldiers, who had long been resting and building up their energy, also rose one after another and formed ranks.

"Count off —"

"One"

"Two"

"Three"

…

When the two sides finally caught sight of each other, the Later Jin army halted and sent out scouts. Discovering that the Ming army had only four hundred infantry, they resumed their advance, stopping just beyond a single bowshot's distance from the Ming army.

"They won't wait long. They don't know how many men the Lüshun army has behind them, nor when they might catch up." Huang Shi explained to Wu Mu beside him, "What's more, they look down on us for being so few, so they'll want to force their way through and flee."

"We are few?" Wu Mu was greatly alarmed. Huang Shi had originally told him there were only one or two hundred enemy troops.

"Yes, that's right." Huang Shi had long prepared his explanation. "The earlier reconnaissance was mistaken. There are roughly six hundred and fifty Jian slaves facing us."

"Then isn't our army in grave danger?" Wu Mu stared in stunned disbelief. "General Huang, why don't you immediately recall Garrison Commander He's cavalry unit so we can fight to the death?"

"Garrison Commander He's cavalry is for pursuit. We cannot waste their horses' strength."

As they spoke, the entire Later Jin army came into view. The Ming army blocked the road ahead, arrayed in a three-rank battle formation a hundred men wide.

Another hundred soldiers stood in the front rank gripping iron bows. Of the one hundred arquebuses brought from Lüshun, after testing by Deng Ken, only seven proved serviceable. Thus, for now, they still had to rely on foot archers to provide ranged firepower.

Both sides stared at each other in silence. The battlefield was utterly still.

Wu Mu could hardly endure the tense atmosphere before the battle began. He could not help tugging at Huang Shi, who stood before him. "General Huang, what are the Jian slaves waiting for?"

"They need to rest and recover their strength a little."

After a quarter hour, there was still no movement. Wu Mu again asked nervously, "Are we just going to wait like this forever?"

"We can afford to wait. The Jian slaves cannot."

After half an hour, the Later Jin soldiers dismounted one after another. Each man raised his shield before his head and advanced slowly in a relatively loose formation.

"Draw bows —" Several officers of the archer unit called out the command in long, drawn-out tones.

Huang Shi's raised hand dropped lightly, and the guard beside him immediately struck the drum once.

Hearing the drum, the archer unit officers issued the order: "Loose."

The storm-like volley of arrows felled only a few men. The Later Jin army's advance slowed slightly for a moment, then they continued pressing forward.

"Draw bows —"

The arm swept down, the drum sounded, the order was issued, and the archers released their bowstrings.

The Ming army fired five times at a measured pace. The Later Jin army had now closed to about fifty meters.

"Why is our army shooting so slowly?" Wu Mu truly was a question-prone eunuch.

Huang Shi kept his eyes fixed on the battlefield, his arm suspended in midair. Without turning his head, he explained, "A single archer can fire at most fifteen arrows before he is utterly exhausted. The Jian slaves want to draw our fire from a distance, so as they advance slowly, we must shoot slowly — five arrows. Against infantry, the final five arrows must be loosed within twenty-five paces."

"That only adds up to ten arrows!" Wu Mu's arithmetic seemed quite good, but Huang Shi thought it would be perfect if he would only ask questions after the battle.

"Eunuch Wu sees clearly." Huang Shi, fully concentrated on controlling his army, truly had no time to deal with him now. His eyes, unblinking, watched the approaching Later Jin soldiers. Suddenly, he swept his arm rapidly three times, and the drum sounded three urgent beats in response.

"Odd numbers, direct fire. Even numbers, plunging fire." Upon hearing the drum, the archer unit officers gave the order without the slightest hesitation.

The Ming archers swiftly strung their bows. Half the archers lowered their bows to strike directly at the lower body, while the other half raised their bows high toward the sky and loosed their arrows. They fired five times in rapid succession. Although the Later Jin soldiers in the front ranks blocked and dodged, some were still struck by arrows.

But against regular troops wearing armor and holding shields, arrows mostly did not inflict fatal wounds. After the several dozen wounded men were absorbed into the formation, those with light injuries still followed behind the front-line elite soldiers, waiting to join the melee.

The Later Jin troops crossed the barricade, and Huang Shi’s drummer sounded a brief single beat on the gong.

Next came the work of the front-line officers. Huang Shi, slightly tense, gripped the reins with both hands, let out a long breath, and then explained to Wu Mu: “Shooting arrows this fast is exhausting, and we must guard against the enemy halting to shoot back. Although the Jianzhou slaves cannot afford the time and mostly use weak horse bows, we still have to take precautions.”

The gong signal summoned the final command for the archer unit: “Archers, fall back.”