Chapter 165: Section 22: The First Month

On the fifth day of the eleventh month of the fourth year of the Tianqi reign, at Changsheng Island.

Huang Shi was admiring the gift Wu Mu had given him — a finely crafted long saber. The blade was forged from hundred-times-folded refined steel, clamped on both sides by two pieces of wrought iron. The polished blade surface gleamed translucent like a mirror; the face Huang Shi saw in it was even clearer than in a bronze mirror. The wrought iron gripping the steel edge was also polished so smooth that when his fingers stroked the blade, he could feel no unevenness at all.

Wu Mu quietly watched Huang Shi toy with the saber, waiting with great patience until Huang Shi looked up with a long sigh before he spoke: "Is General Huang satisfied?"

"Truly a treasure of a blade," Huang Shi could hardly bear to put the long saber down. In this era, a blade like this must have cost an incalculable amount of labor and wealth. He gave it a light spin in the air — both the weight and the curve of the blade were flawless. It was truly a masterpiece.

"In the letter I sent last month, when Eunuch Wei heard that General Huang loved blades, he immediately ordered men to work day and night to forge this saber." Wu Mu had drawn the pattern of Huang Shi's old saber and sent it along; he remembered that Huang Shi had once complained that the old blade was not heavy enough, so the weight of this one had been deliberately increased by ten percent.

The blade edge glided lightly across a wooden bench and, without the slightest hesitation, carved out a deep groove — far sharper than the steel knives of later ages. Huang Shi could not help but marvel at the power of imperial authority. Deducting the time spent traveling back and forth, in just a few days the skilled craftsmen of the imperial palace had produced a weapon tailored specifically for him: "My thanks to Eunuch Wei."

Wu Mu, with an uncharacteristically humble bearing, made a salute: "Eunuch Wei said I must thank General Huang on his behalf."

Huang Shi hastily dodged this salute, then swiftly returned a bow: "Has Eunuch Wei's great matter been settled?"

"A complete victory." Wu Mu grinned as he told Huang Shi that the Donglin Party at court had been utterly routed. This capital evaluation would drive all Donglin officials out of the capital. The Tianqi Emperor had already been wavering and was about to agree to re-examine the Guangning case, but upon reading Wu Mu's secret memorial he flew into a towering rage. Right in front of Wei Zhongxian, he overturned the imperial desk, cursing Xiong Tingbi and Wang Huazhen for betraying the state. If the Donglin Party spared those two from death, there must be something crooked behind it.

The land Wei Zhongxian wanted was merely a pretext; his target was neither Xiong Tingbi nor Wang Huazhen, but his political enemy the Donglin Party. That was why Huang Shi felt it was still safe to put his name on the secret memorial. Wu Mu's secret memorial would only be seen by Wei Zhongxian and the Tianqi Emperor, and a secret memorial from an irrelevant eunuch could not be used as trial evidence. Historically, eunuchs' secret memorials were basically never preserved.

Still, Huang Shi had deliberately taken a precaution: in the memorial he concentrated his fire and fiercely denounced Wang Huazhen, hoping this would prompt Wei Zhongxian to destroy the file in the future. If by chance the Chongzhen Emperor ever saw it, the righteous indignation he had displayed in the secret memorial would still leave him a path of retreat — at worst, he was merely a good man deceived and exploited by a handful of bad elements.

"Master Sun has requested several times to return to the capital for an audience with His Majesty." Even in private, Wu Mu still dared not speak the imperial tutor's name directly, though the expression on his face betrayed his inner smugness: "His Majesty issued three consecutive edicts ordering Master Sun to hold the passes — no need to return to the capital."

Huang Shi had once privately pondered the psychology of the Tianqi Emperor. Tianqi, who lost his mother in childhood, had never received any fatherly love from his lecherous father either. From later historical materials, Huang Shi felt that Tianqi seemed to be a lonely, withdrawn child who expressed excessive dependence on certain acquaintances around him. For example, during the Red Pill case, Tianqi actually asked on his father's deathbed that his foster mother Li Xuan be made Empress — so that his foster mother could legitimately become Empress Dowager. And when the Donglin Party drove Li Xuan out of the palace, Tianqi wept without regard for decorum. Later, this seemingly maternal attachment shifted onto Madam Ke; Tianqi was utterly obedient to her, and when facing Madam Ke, the Emperor Tianqi astonishingly used "I, your servant" to refer to himself. And when the two eunuchs, Big Wei and Little Wei, fought jealously over Madam Ke in that sordid affair, Tianqi, to make Madam Ke happy, actually disregarded his own status and stepped in as arbiter.

Likewise, Huang Shi sensed that Tianqi's projected longing for fatherly love seemed to have settled on Sun Chengzong. Every time this reclusive emperor saw Sun Chengzong, he would laugh with delight and say with a heart full of joy: "My heart opens." During the life-and-death struggle between the Donglin Party and the eunuch faction at the end of Tianqi's fourth year, Sun Chengzong had requested to return to the capital for an imperial audience. When Wei Zhongxian heard of this, his soul nearly flew out of his body. His aides also wailed in terror: "If Grand Secretary Sun returns to the capital, you, sir, and all of us will be ground to dust."

So Wei Zhongxian repeatedly used the pretext of urgent military conditions at Shanhai Pass to persuade Tianqi to issue edict after edict blocking Sun Chengzong from entering the capital. Even after toppling Sun Chengzong, the eunuch faction still exerted every effort to prevent Sun Chengzong and Tianqi from meeting as teacher and student. But that was as far as it went. Unlike the other Donglin members who were tormented to the brink of death, Wei Zhongxian also realized that Sun Chengzong enjoyed Tianqi's unreserved trust. Getting the Emperor to agree to throw Sun Chengzong into prison was an act Wei Zhongxian never had the courage to attempt.

At last, Wu Mu began to speak of the key point: "His Majesty has read Master Sun's memorial. Master Sun advocates vigorously aiding Changsheng Island." Wu Mu seemed to want to mock Sun Chengzong for lifting a rock only to drop it on his own foot, but the eunuch faction's fear of Sun Chengzong had rubbed off on him too. In the end, Wu Mu did not dare say more unnecessary words: "General Huang, Eunuch Wei spoke many good words on your behalf, so His Majesty granted approval."

How satisfying! Huang Shi inwardly praised the kind of maneuvering only a transmigrator could possess. What was true skill? Getting Sun Chengzong, whom Tianqi trusted most, and Madam Ke and Wei Zhongxian all to speak well of you — that was true skill.

"Eunuch Wei personally sent men to select armor for General Huang." Wu Mu stressed the word "armor" heavily, but the next few words he stressed even more heavily: "One thousand five hundred sets!"

Huang Shi was wild with joy: "Many thanks to Eunuch Wei, many thanks to Eunuch Wu."

Wu Mu waved his hand magnanimously — it was, after all, generosity at the expense of the capital garrison, and hadn't cost him a single coin: "They will definitely arrive at Changsheng Island by the middle of this month. Eunuch Wei will send men from the palace to supervise the delivery and ensure nothing goes missing. When they leave the capital, another one hundred and fifty sets will be added to cover losses en route, so there will only be more, not fewer. And no need for General Huang to grease any palms — Eunuch Wei has arranged everything. In short, leave this matter to me. General Huang need only send men to carry them into the storehouse."

No wonder the eunuch faction won. You had to admit, they handled things beautifully.

After taking his leave with a thousand thanks, Huang Shi immediately summoned Yang Zhiyuan: "Count the remaining heavy armor in the storehouse. I recall there are still six hundred sets? Prepare them for shipment to the Dongjiang main headquarters. Tell the blacksmiths there's no need to forge iron armor anymore — concentrate on making firearms, long spears, and helmets."

"Oh, and one more thing." Huang Shi stopped Yang Zhiyuan, who was about to leave to carry out the order: "You may secretly give He Dingyuan some good news. His cavalry's iron armor is secured."

The work of upgrading the Fire Rescue Battalion's equipment was complete. Supplies worth over two hundred thousand taels of silver were nothing to the Great Ming, and for the entire Dongjiang garrison it was just one year's pay and rations, but concentrated on one small Changsheng Island, it was extraordinary.

In the fourth year of Tianqi, Wei Zhongxian still lacked confidence. This batch of supplies for Changsheng Island was both a reward and a measure to prevent a furious and humiliated Huang Shi from defecting to help the Donglin Party. But just before Huang Shi left, Wu Mu still gave a final reminder: "General Huang, with Eunuch Wei here, any supplies are easy to discuss. But Eunuch Wei does not like hearing bad news, nor can I tolerate failure. Whether it is what I deliver to Eunuch Wei, or what Eunuch Wei presents to His Majesty, it must be one victory report after another!"

Years of bloody struggle had only persuaded Sun Chengzong to give one thousand sets, but providing party-struggle ammunition to Wei Zhongxian had netted one thousand five hundred sets. Huang Shi could not help but sigh — sure enough, going out and whoring yourself brought in money the fastest: "Grand Secretary Sun, Eunuch Wei, I will not let either of you down."

On the Kuandian front, the Dongjiang army was still firmly suppressed by the Two Blue Banners. Compared to the Two Red Banners, the Two Blue Banners were undoubtedly far larger in scale; the Bordered Blue Banner alone had sixty-one niru, over six thousand combat soldiers. The Two Red Banners deployed in Liaonan had only fifty-two niru in total, not even as large as the Bordered Blue Banner alone, and now the Bordered Red Banner had also withdrawn.

Jin Qiude and Zhao Manxiong were discussing this intelligence with Huang Shi. Li Yunrui sat below the three of them, brimming with confidence, waiting for their questions. He was doing very well under Huang Shi's command, and the intelligence department's status was rising steadily.

"Marshal Mao's objective is still relatively large. It seems the Jianzhou slaves will not launch a major offensive against Liaonan." After Jin Qiude made his judgment, Zhao Manxiong also nodded in agreement.

To be honest, Huang Shi could no longer make sense of the situation in Liaonan either. He remembered that historically, Later Jin would take advantage of their successive victories over the Dongjiang main force to once again march south in force to attack Lüshun, and Zhang Pan would be betrayed by Han troops and die in that campaign. As far as Huang Shi knew, Mao Wenlong had already dispatched a large number of able-bodied men to reinforce Lüshun. His original wishful plan had been to wait until the Later Jin army entered Dalian Bay, then lead his own troops to strike them on the back of the head while they were bogged down before strong walls.

Now, if the forces of Lüshun and Changsheng could be combined, Huang Shi believed that a pincer attack plus a surprise strike would have no problem smashing the Two Red Banners. As long as he took the initiative to relieve Zhang Pan and won another great victory, the position of Vice Regional Commander would be within his grasp. The problem was that Later Jin's military deployment had become completely chaotic; it looked as if all their attention was now focused on dealing with Changsheng Island.

"This is the winter offensive plan I have drawn up. Please review it, my lord." Jin Qiude produced three copies. Li Yunrui, as usual, took his copy and began studying it meticulously; later he would assess whether the intelligence resources could support the military operation.

The main targets in this plan were the coastal beacon towers. Changsheng Island's naval battalion would transport three hundred men with cannons to demolish these arrow towers. However, Jin Qiude also believed that the speed of demolition might not match the speed of reconstruction. The staff department reckoned that Later Jin's likely countermeasure would be "you tear yours down, I'll build mine" — they had large numbers of Liaodong commoners idle during the agricultural off-season anyway, so they might as well keep them busy.

Later Jin troops concealed inland would pose a threat to the Ming forces, but Li Yunrui considered this nothing to fear. The Ming army, relying on the sea routes, had an absolute advantage in mobility. The Later Jin field forces would probably adopt a strategy of waiting for the rabbit, but the assembly positions of over a thousand cavalry could not be hidden from Changsheng Island's eyes and ears. Conversely, however, such operations would not help the Ming intelligence network much either. Once a stretch of coastal beacon towers was demolished, the enemy troops behind them would certainly heighten their vigilance, and intelligence officers still could not risk infiltrating.

Huang Shi was very dissatisfied with this plan: "We still need to find a way to fight in the field, to seek a direct engagement."

The Fire Rescue Battalion was now organized into five infantry companies, one cavalry company, and one artillery company. With the grain aid from Sun Chengzong, the infantry's training was basically complete. Changsheng Island had also received two thousand five hundred sets of iron armor, which greatly lightened the burden of military production. The soldiers had all been re-equipped with visored helmets, and several more cannons had been produced.

Each infantry company was organized with four hundred men, including the company commander and deputy, drummers, standard-bearers, and others totaling ten men, plus two hundred and forty pikemen and one hundred and fifty arquebusiers. After adjustments, most of the veterans had been trained as arquebusiers. The squad leaders of the arquebusiers were now all soldiers with past merit, while the squad leaders of the pikemen could be filled by ordinary veterans. The standard equipment for an arquebusier, besides a matchlock, included a support stick fitted with a harpoon head and a long dagger — essentially a one-foot-five-inch spearhead mounted on a handle. After study, in the rat warfare beneath the forest of pikes, this kind of fork and long dagger proved most useful.

Of course, the theoretical organization was one thing, but in reality the proportion of pikemen was still far higher than the theoretical establishment. By the middle of the eleventh month of Tianqi's fourth year, since Changsheng Island no longer needed to produce armor, it already possessed one thousand five hundred spearheads. But there were fewer than four hundred firearms. Huang Shi had already ordered most of the spearhead smiths to switch to boring gun barrels, which led to the reappearance of barrel-bursting incidents.

The cavalry company had two hundred combat soldiers. In addition, two hundred auxiliary soldiers were organized, tasked with cutting fodder and feeding horses, so that the combat soldiers could rest fully.

According to the paper battalion establishment, there should also be a squad of ten mounted battalion guards to protect the one senior and two deputy battalion officers.

After discussing with Deng Ken, Huang Shi set the artillery company's establishment at two hundred men as well: four three-pounder guns and two six-pounder guns, making six gun crews in total. Each crew consisted of a crew chief, a gun captain, three gunners, five ammunition handlers, two craftsmen, three horse grooms, a cart driver, and five large-shield soldiers. The large-shield soldiers had no offensive weapons; their mission was to ensure the cannons could complete loading and firing even under the threat of enemy archery. Thus each artillery company also required eight squads of pikemen for protection.

The pay for combat soldiers was naturally somewhat higher — for instance, getting an extra fish at mealtime was one of the perks. And that was where the trouble started... Deng Ken insisted that all members of the artillery company be counted as combat soldiers, but He Dingyuan and the others absolutely refused. Not only did the grooms and ammunition handlers have to be counted as auxiliaries, but they didn't even consider the large-shield soldiers to fall within the combat soldier category.

In any case, with such a field force now in hand, Huang Shi was inclined to find an opportunity for a direct engagement.

But Jin Qiude swiftly retorted: "My lord, I believe that is impossible. With our Fire Rescue Battalion's equipment and training, we could certainly rout two or three thousand Jianzhou slaves. But although the Jianzhou slaves do not know our true combat strength, our unit's reputation already precedes us. The Jianzhou Plain Red Banner would absolutely refuse to engage our two thousand-odd combat soldiers. If we advance deep inland, our lack of horses would make us easy prey for encirclement by two or three banners."

Zhao Manxiong was still thinking slowly. Huang Shi did not disturb him and instead asked Li Yunrui: "What does Director Li think?"

"I also concur with Mobile Corps Commander Jin's view... If Your Lordship wishes to deploy the entire battalion at once, you will certainly need around two thousand auxiliary troops to accompany them. That would be a large force of over four thousand. I am incapable — with a march of such scale, Changsheng Island's spies absolutely cannot provide cover. Such a force cannot be concealed for even a single day."

Huang Shi estimated that just landing four thousand men, resting, and completing reorganization would take three days. And no matter how large Liaodong was, within three or four days the Later Jin main army would arrive. Besides, Huang Shi had also asked Yang Zhiyuan: four thousand men in the field for ten days would consume all the stored salt meat, salted fish, and dry rations, and would also require halting all production on the island.

After hearing Huang Shi lay out these concerns, Chief of Staff Jin Qiude offered a new perspective: "My lord, a large army in the field consumes too much. Let us first eliminate the Jianzhou slaves right in front of us."

Jin Qiude was referring to the fortress opposite the Nanxinkou. Originally, the Later Jin army had built three blockhouses around Changsheng Island at the Nanxinkou and Beixinkou. After the battle of Gaizhou, they built three more, and now they formed a mutually supporting triangle. The reason Huang Shi had not knocked them out was that he hoped these large fortresses would tie up some of the enemy's resources, and he also felt they were meat already in his mouth — timber-and-earth blockhouses could not withstand a single blow from cannons, so there was no need to rush to devour them.

Zhao Manxiong's opinion finally emerged. He advocated enduring a little longer, until the spring plowing began — then things would be easier. The banner men of each Later Jin banner would have to go down to the fields to farm. Apart from the Heavy Armor Soldiers, most of the combat soldiers would also have to go work, which would leave more ample time for Changsheng Island's operations. After all, the scale of a general mobilization then could be even larger.

"Mobilizing at that time would also do tremendous harm to Changsheng Island's production." Huang Shi shook his head. A general mobilization during the busy farming season was a mutually destructive approach. In the fourth year of Tianqi, he had planned to send two thousand men to cause trouble, and Yang Zhiyuan had already wailed to high heaven. This time, mobilizing four to five thousand men might look impressive on the surface, but he himself would also suffer internal injuries.

"We could ask Lord Sun to support us with some grain." Zhao Manxiong blinked furiously: "Liaoxi has grain to spare — much faster than growing it ourselves."

"Lord Sun has already given quite a lot this time. We must produce some results." Huang Shi let out a long sigh. The military problem was no longer purely a military problem; it now also involved political factors. Wei Zhongxian's patience probably wouldn't last forever either. Although he didn't know whether the Battle of Ningyuan would occur in this timeline, Huang Shi knew that if a great battle broke out in Liaoxi, with his current capabilities, there was nothing he could do.

"My decision is made. Once the Nanxinkou freezes over, our army will strike across and wipe out the Jianzhou slaves along the coast in one blow." That way, at least there would be some heads taken, and with Wu Mu's flowery brush, it would probably suffice to get by for a while.

In the first month of the fifth year of Tianqi, when the north wind once again blew across the Nanxinkou strait, Huang Shi, while ordering the secret mobilization of the Fire Rescue Battalion, also ordered a halt to the routine ice-chopping activities, preparing to cross the sea and launch a surprise attack on the Plain Red Banner.

"I was just looking for General Huang. I heard you came to the seaside at dawn, so I followed." At the sound of that shrill voice, Huang Shi knew who it was without turning around.

Wu Mu walked up onto the high ground by the shore and gazed together with him at the opposite side of the Nanxinkou. The seashore was densely packed with swarming figures, and quite a few appeared to be Han commoners driven there. Wu Mu observed for a while: "General Huang, what are the Jianzhou slaves doing?"

Huang Shi gave a self-mocking chuckle: "The Jianzhou slaves are chopping ice."