Chapter 152: Section 9: The Landing

The first wave of landing troops came ashore north of Shenjingdun at dusk. With the help of undercover agents, they swiftly seized a small village as a forward base. Before daybreak, follow-up units also reached the coast and disembarked.

The entire army advanced rapidly to the forward base to rest and regroup. According to the plan, there would be no major military action on the first day; the troops needed to recover their strength. Since the signs of the landing obviously could not be hidden from Later Jin scouts, Huang Shi’s cavalry fanned out in all directions to prevent enemy riders from approaching the base and gathering intelligence, hoping to make the opponent believe the Ming force numbered only two or three hundred men, rather than a large body of nearly two thousand.

The result greatly satisfied Huang Shi. Early the next morning, not long after the Ming army set out, the vanguard reported a head-on encounter with a unit of Later Jin cavalry. Judging by their banners, they were over a hundred combat troops led by seven or eight niru, with a similar number of auxiliaries. The enemy scouts, upon discovering the Ming army’s vast marching column, wheeled their horses and fled, vanishing from the vanguard’s sight in the blink of an eye.

The partial mobilization of the intelligence network brought great convenience to the Ming army. Over twenty carts had already been incorporated into the order of battle. Gunpowder, shot, and rations were all loaded onto the carts. These supplies and six hundred auxiliaries formed the main body of Huang Shi’s central force, while the combat troops were dispersed around it, tightly protecting the center.

Nearly two thousand Ming soldiers marched across the sparsely populated land of Liaodong. The occasional laboring civilians in the surrounding area were drawn by the resonant sound of waist drums, gazing from afar as the long Ming column, bearing battle flags blazing like fire, advanced northeast in orderly strides. Some among them with sharp eyes recognized the Serpent Banner of the Fire Rescue Battalion and began telling their companions the origins of this Ming unit.

“General Huang, is all well?” Although Wu Mu felt things were going smoothly, he still lacked a bit of confidence, so he spurred his horse over to confirm with Huang Shi.

“Eunuch Wu, set your mind at ease. Everything is proceeding smoothly.” The standard marching rate Huang Shi had set was forty li per day. At this speed, they would reach Yulinpu — the first objective of Huang Shi’s army — that very afternoon.

Huang Shi estimated that the enemy troops encountered that morning were Gaizhou’s regular garrison. Even if they raced back to Gaizhou and immediately requested reinforcements from Haizhou and Fuzhou, Huang Shi reckoned it would still take many days for relief forces to arrive. The Plain White Banner troops in relatively close Haizhou and Anshan were likely not yet mobilized, and it would take days just to assemble the various niru. The Later Jin forces in Fuzhou, which posed a greater threat, had completed mobilization, but their distance canceled out that advantage. Within three days, Gaizhou could only rely on its own strength for defense.

The maps provided by the intelligence department were also quite good. Keeping to the roads the entire time, the Ming army moved swiftly and with ease. By the midday rest, they had already covered ninety percent of the distance to Yulinpu. The resting place had also been chosen in advance — a village by the roadside. As soon as He Baodao’s cavalry unit approached the village entrance, the village head and elders surged out and knelt by the roadside. The dozen or so Han self-defense troops in the village, having long heard the rumors, had all fled without a trace.

“General Huang’s mighty name spreads far and wide. Though we common folk are coarse and lowly, we have long heard of the General’s reputation for benevolence and righteousness…”

The Serpent Banner fluttered in the wind. The village head kneeling by the roadside pressed his head nearly to the ground, babbling incessantly with flattery and fawning. In this feudal society that had almost no sense of national identity, as long as the peasants felt that shaving their heads didn’t matter, it was merely a matter of changing masters and paying grain taxes. Mounted on his horse, Huang Shi did not even cast a direct glance at the village elders kneeling all over the ground. He merely asked flatly, “Where have all the Jianzhou rebel scoundrels of this village gone?”

“General Huang’s might awes all Liaodong. Those rats naturally fled at the mere rumor of your approach.” The village head’s terrified and trembling voice came at once.

Huang Shi’s tone remained utterly indifferent as he asked, “Are those rats not people of this village?”

The pitiful village head, not daring to wipe the cold sweat from his forehead, answered in a voice that quavered the whole time: “They are all shameless rogues who turned their backs on their ancestors. The moment they heard the Imperial Army was coming, every last one of them fled like rabbits.”

After a cold laugh that made the villagers’ hair stand on end, Huang Shi continued, “Those rats surely have kinfolk, do they not? Have you heard the saying: when one man rebels, his nine familial relations are to be executed?”

“I beg the General for mercy, mercy…” The village head’s tone had already taken on a tearful note.

“Hand them over, and the lives of the rest will be spared.”

The village head pleaded twice more. Huang Shi suddenly flew into a rage and threatened to massacre the entire village. The village head then began to stammer, about to randomly point out a few households. Before he could speak, an old man kneeling nearby suddenly raised his head and shouted angrily, “This commoner’s eldest son is one of those rebel scoundrels. If General Huang wants this life, come and take it.”

“Guards.” At Huang Shi’s low command, his personal guards dragged the old man out from the crowd and pressed him down before Huang Shi’s horse, ready to behead him. The rest of the villagers were silent as winter cicadas; only the old man continued cursing without cease.

“Hold.” Huang Shi stopped the guards who were about to strike. For the first time, he cast a sidelong glance down at the villagers: “Still defiant in the face of death? Do you think dying is too easy?”

“This commoner is not convinced!” The old man’s stubborn temper seemed to flare up. As if throwing caution to the wind, he shouted, “The people of Liaodong all say General Huang’s martial prowess is unsurpassed, yet today you only dare to strike at our village. If General Huang has the skill, go attack the fortresses — there are plenty of Jurchens there.”

Huang Shi burst into loud laughter. Pointing at the old man who was spraying spittle as he ranted, he said, “Very well. For the sake of your courage today, I shall spare your village. Not a single person will be killed. Keep your lives and watch my skill. Guards, release him.”

Several personal guards, their faces showing reluctance, released the old man. The old man seemed to have been stunned. Only when the village head on the ground tugged at him did he come to his senses as if waking from a dream and kneel down, kowtowing repeatedly: “This commoner thanks the General for his mercy in sparing our lives.”

Next, Huang Shi ordered the villagers to provide firewood and well water. The auxiliaries took out dry rations and began lighting fires to cook.

While eating, Huang Shi smiled and asked Li Yunrui beside him, “How did this general’s performance go?”

Li Yunrui also smiled and answered, “My lord is wise. With this one act, the old man has won the gratitude of the entire village. In the future, his intelligence work should be much easier. His whole family has narrowly escaped death this time, so the Jianzhou rebels will be even less likely to suspect him and his son.”

Among the auxiliaries who had come with them were fifty female soldiers from the Medical Rescue Camp. Though these women also wore conical hats, they wore no armor. Their hats, uniforms, and boots had all been dyed pure white on Huang Shi’s orders. This was mainly because Huang Shi thought women looked good dressed all in white, and also stemmed from a subconscious, mischievous fancy of his regarding the notion of “angels in white.”

These female soldiers rode in large carts on the march. Their equipment consisted of small knives, herbal medicine, and needles and thread. Huang Shi had discovered that if female soldiers were assigned to cut and stitch wounds, the wounded men would not howl and wail hysterically; instead, they would all strive to put on a manly front. Moreover, because women were more meticulous, they stitched more carefully — which of course hurt more, but was ultimately beneficial for the wounded.

After the meal, Huang Shi ordered a rest of one quarter-hour before resuming the march. The fifty female soldiers then began to sing for the troops. The officers and soldiers all sat quietly on the ground, listening.