[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-stealing-ming":3,"chapter-stealing-ming-stealing-ming-chapter-175":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Stealing Ming",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1220792,1614,"Chapter 175: Section 32: Pinning Down","stealing-ming-chapter-175",175,"\u003Cp>After resting at Jinzhou, Huang Shi went to visit the valiantly wounded Deng Ken. With a stern expression, he called out Deng Ken’s full title: “Semu Military Household, Cannon Battery Commander, Brevet Company Commander Deng Ken.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though lying in bed, Deng Ken immediately responded: “General, what are your orders?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Huang Shi’s smile broke through his earlier sternness: “Deng Ken, although this time you abandoned the six-pounder on the battlefield without permission, I still intend to reward you.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I did not abandon my weapon. I was directing my soldiers forward, not retreating, and it was to make better use of the weapon. In Taixi, this is no error — the artillery is also the branch that most demands initiative.” Deng Ken’s face flushed red and his neck swelled as he began his rebuttal, his voice growing louder and louder.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Huang Shi listened to his defense with a smile, then spoke slowly: “Deng Ken, you are a military household of the Great Ming, no longer a Scotsman. The Great Ming has the Great Ming’s rules.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing Deng Ken about to argue further, Huang Shi immediately said: “I have not finished speaking. You are not permitted to speak now.” He paused briefly, then continued: “But within my Firefighting Battalion, I permit you to command the artillery according to your own will — provided you write it into regulations and submit them for my review.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Deng Ken naturally agreed to this proposal, but since he could not yet write, Huang Shi indicated he would assign him a clerk to take his dictation: “Furthermore, on this round of commendation recommendations, your name will be written in the first position. I guarantee you will soon receive formal appointment from the Ministry of War and Dongjiangzhen, becoming a Company Commander of Dongjiangzhen.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“And one last point: from now on, the members of the cannon crews will be regarded as combat soldiers.” Huang Shi gave a sly grin: “Henceforth, Deng Ken, your men will get an extra fish. Not bad, eh?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This is not a matter of one fish. Artillerymen are of course combat soldiers. I am not doing this for one fish…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I am perfectly calm, and I understand perfectly.” Huang Shi soothed Deng Ken with a smile: “Say no more. Rest well.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The twenty-eighth day of the first month, fifth year of the Tianqi reign. Jinzhou. Huang Shi’s temporary Assistant Regional Commander residence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Your subordinates pay respects to my lord.” The two Changsheng officers chanted in unison.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Huang Shi waved a hand for the two to rise: “Manxiong, Qiude. You have come at just the right time. There are no outsiders here, so dispense with the formalities.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Your subordinate congratulates my lord on the great victory.” Jin Qiude offered a word of flattery, then launched into his assessment: “However, at present the three-banner Jianzhou slaves are entrenched at Nanguan — neither fighting nor retreating. Your subordinate fears they are waiting for reinforcements.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As he spoke, Jin Qiude produced a plan and handed it over. There was also intelligence that Li Yunrui had just gathered. Over the past few days, Changsheng Island had lost quite a few men just collecting intelligence, but everyone on the island knew the situation was urgent, so they could not afford to worry about that.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Huang Shi took the plan and the intelligence and studied them for a long time. Jin Qiude and Zhao Manxiong each found a stool and sat to Huang Shi’s left and right. After a long while, Huang Shi ended his contemplation, set down the reports, and asked gravely: “The staff team believes the Jianzhou slaves will send even more troops south?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“My lord sees clearly. If the Jianzhou slaves were willing to abandon large numbers of banner troops, they would have abandoned them and fled long ago. Why would they sit and wait for our army to recover?” Jin Qiude spoke with eloquence, and Zhao Manxiong nodded vigorously in agreement.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The Plain Red Banner in Liaonan has already committed all its elite troops, and they are now all trapped by our army at Nanguan. The Bordered Red Banner was crippled by my Firefighting Battalion last year and is now recovering at Haizhou. If the Jianzhou slaves want to draw troops south, they can only move the Bordered White Banner down from Shenyang. That would leave the Liaoxi direction empty.” Huang Shi finished speaking and bit his lip in thought for a moment. The Guan-Ning army of one hundred sixty thousand was still on the Shanhai Pass–Ningyuan line. And if they waited until the Bordered White Banner’s southward movement was confirmed before notifying the Liaodong Regional Military Commission, the Guan-Ning army would have no time to react. Huang Shi said hesitantly: “The three-banner Jianzhou slaves at Nanguan also need time to gather their remnant troops. Perhaps they will try to cover the unarmored troops and fight their way out.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhao Manxiong immediately countered: “Then does my lord believe they can fight their way out?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before the question had even finished echoing, Huang Shi said decisively: “Absolutely impossible!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It seems I am indulging in wishful thinking. Huang Shi smiled bitterly and explained: “But without confirmed intelligence, I have no way to prove to Lord Sun that the Bordered White Banner will move south, and thus no way to persuade the Guan-Ning army to march.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Perhaps we could persuade Lord Sun to send a small force to pin them down?” Zhao Manxiong also understood Huang Shi’s difficulty, and he likewise understood Sun Chengzong’s difficulty, yet he still clung to a sliver of hope.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As expected, Huang Shi shook his head: “Impossible. I have absolute confidence in your judgment, but the Liaodong Regional Military Commission does not. If they rashly march and it turns out the Bordered White Banner did not move south, what then? What if it becomes another great defeat — who will bear the responsibility? We simply cannot shoulder it.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhao Manxiong shifted his rear on the stool and made one last effort, still unwilling to give up: “But the Bordered White Banner has only fifteen niru, while the Guan-Ning army has forty battalions.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“All forty Guan-Ning battalions were built by Lord Sun, some only completed last year. Which of them has seen battle? You can move troops — do you think the Jianzhou slaves won’t move the Two Yellow Banners back?” Huang Shi’s sharp counter-question made Zhao Manxiong lower his head.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since the collapse at Sarhū, the Ming army’s unit structures had suffered devastating blows. Xiong Tingbi resisted the pressure of the military aristocracy, broke up the veterans, and mixed them with new recruits, rebuilding twenty battalions and sixty thousand troops at Shenyang and Liaoyang. But after Xiong Tingbi was dismissed, this army was annihilated in the battle of Shenyang, and most of its officers died in action.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By the time the army was rebuilt at Guangning, ninety percent of the twenty field battalions in the Ming army of one hundred thirty thousand were new recruits, and the last batch of officers willing to fight were destroyed with them in the disaster at Shaling. So when Wang Zaijin became Grand Coordinator of Liaodong, Grand Coordinator Wang refused to take a single step beyond Shanhai Pass.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Over these past few years, Sun Chengzong had built everything from scratch, painstakingly assembling forty Guan-Ning field battalions, including eleven naval battalions. But among them, not one soldier in a hundred had set foot on a battlefield, and those who had killed a man in battle were likely not one in a thousand. Therefore, Sun Chengzong also refused to advance beyond the Ningyuan line, instead devoting himself single-mindedly to drilling the troops, planning to rely on superior numbers to win in the future.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the end, Huang Shi held this method of training troops in very low regard. He had always firmly believed that elite armies are forged in battle, not raised in camp. Huang Shi thought the best approach would be to detach Guan-Ning soldiers to Liaonan and Liaodong to serve as auxiliary troops for the Dongjiang army. After they had witnessed battlefields and bloodshed, they could then be concentrated and trained into field units. The officers and squad leaders for these units would best be drawn from Dongjiang army veterans — wounded veterans who had killed men would be even better. Especially the wounded: from personal experience, Huang Shi knew that killing could build courage, but ever since he himself had been wounded, he felt he had become tougher and more confident, which was crucial to the growth of officers and soldiers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thinking back to the first time he led troops into battle at Jinzhou, Huang Shi had relied on veterans who had seen battlefields and corpses at Lüshun — and that had even been a favorable engagement. Yet the new recruits had still vomited all over the battlefield. From that point on, Huang Shi became even more convinced that new recruits must be led by veterans. The Firefighting Battalion used one veteran to lead one new recruit, even stricter than the typical Dongjiang army ratio of one veteran to seven or eight new recruits. Most of the new recruits in the Firefighting Battalion had also been selected from the auxiliary troops who had accompanied them to the battlefield. When they were hauling corpses and severing heads, Huang Shi let them vomit as much as they pleased — so long as they did not falter once battle was joined.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The mission of our Dongjiang army is to pin down the Jianzhou slaves, to keep them too occupied to attack Liaoxi. Now the three forts at Songshan and the others are on the verge of completion. The court has already spent over a million silver taels on this, and it has taken more than eight months.” Huang Shi sighed and did not continue, but both his subordinates understood what he left unsaid. The reason the court had been willing to allocate two hundred forty thousand taels in military pay to Dongjiang the previous year was only because the Ministry of Revenue’s inspecting official, Huang Zhongse, had put in a good word, saying that Mao Wenlong was “insufficient to subdue the slaves, but more than sufficient to pin them down.” Huang Zhongse’s argument that convinced the Grand Secretariat was that Dongjiangzhen’s existence allowed the Guan-Ning army to build fortifications in peace — for example, the construction of fifty fortresses including Ningyuan had taken three years. Throughout that period, Liaodong had been ablaze with war, yet Liaoxi had remained undisturbed. If they appealed for help at this critical juncture, the court would likely say once again that “Dongjiang, meant to pin down the slaves, has instead been pinned down by the slaves.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although Huang Shi believed that the Guan-Ning army coming to Liaonan or going to Liaodong to endure hardship and gain experience would do them more good — at least better than building fortresses and drawing pay in Liaoxi — he also knew this was not a problem Sun Chengzong could solve. The great military-aristocratic clans of Liaoxi — the Yang family, the Wu family, the Zu family — each had over ten thousand military households farming land for their clans. Over the past century, the sons of these clans had come to control the entire Guan-Ning army. These military households were their private property. Not only were they unwilling to give them up, but Huang Shi himself would absolutely never hand over his own battle-tested soldiers — not even the auxiliary troops. If the court truly tried to strip the Liaoxi military aristocrats of their military households, their own armies would fall into chaos before the Later Jin even attacked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If the Jianzhou slaves’ Bordered White Banner moves south, the first to bear the brunt will inevitably be Changsheng Island. Hmph. They’re bound to play that clumsy trick of making a feint to the east while attacking in the west again. I fell for it once — do they think I’ll fall for it a second time?” Now that Huang Shi had cast aside his illusions, the situation before him was very clear. If the Later Jin army tried to force its way through Jinzhou, they would be fools — and neither Hong Taiji nor Manggūltai was a fool.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The three men discussed the matter for a while. Any viable plan from the Later Jin side, no matter how you looked at it, would first require weakening Jinzhou’s field strength, then using the deterrent power of four banners to cover the withdrawal of the baggage train — or simply having the Bordered White Banner bring the baggage south, so that the three banners at Nanguan could flee light.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Isn’t it just about attacking what I am compelled to defend? Huang Shi gave a cold laugh: “Send orders to Yang Zhiyuan immediately. Have the ice broken open. Let them come — I hope every one of the Jianzhou slaves is a champion winter swimmer. And the naval battalion: immediately set out with one thousand auxiliary troops for Changsheng Island, then transport everyone from Zhongdao back to Changsheng Island.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Without a naval battalion, the Later Jin army could not possibly cross the sea to attack Changsheng Island. Moreover, this naval battalion would have to go to Nanxinkou itself. Put Later Jin soldiers who had grown up on horseback onto ships for a few days and then have them make a landing — even the children of Changsheng Island could slaughter them. So Huang Shi and his men estimated that even if the ships of the Lüshun naval battalion had been captured, they would at most have some Han-army sailors aboard.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Still no word from the Lüshun naval battalion?” Since Huang Shi had thought of this, he leafed through the reports. The Changsheng Island naval battalion had desperately squeezed out small boats to search along the coast, hoping to send back an early warning. For this, many men had already gone missing in the icy sea, but the report in Huang Shi’s hand still contained nothing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“None. Perhaps they turned back to Lüshun, then went to Nanguan Island to transport the wounded and the baggage.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That is a possibility.” Huang Shi sighed. This intelligence gap could not be plugged. The Later Jin army relied on horses for mobility and reconnaissance, while the Ming army in Liaonan relied on sea transport. Jinzhou had far too few horses; the cavalry could not search very far. Even if they forcibly searched more of the coastline, they were unlikely to have the luck to stumble upon the enemy’s camp, and would only pointlessly degrade their grasp of nearby intelligence: “However, as long as the naval battalions from Guanglu Island and Zhangshan Island arrive, Changsheng Island will be absolutely secure.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The twenty-ninth night of the first month, fifth year of the Tianqi reign. Qingniwa.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After nightfall, the Later Jin fleet anchored by the shore. They had been ordered to sail west, and after a day’s travel they anchored at the designated point, only to find a courier already waiting there. The urgent orders they received were to immediately turn back east to the Nanguan peninsula. Though the courier would not say more, his anxious expression suggested that the battle situation had undergone a massive change. And after a secret discussion with the supervising Later Jin officer, that Later Jin niru commander, contrary to his usual manner, flew into a rage and drove everyone to row back with desperate speed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For a time, the Han-army sailors manning the boats in the naval camp whispered among themselves. The Later Jin supervising niru commander mercilessly beheaded the few who had spoken the loudest. This thunderous measure instantly suppressed the murmuring and re-stabilized morale.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tonight, after anchoring, most of the Han-army sailors were transferred ashore. A dozen or so Later Jin soldiers took turns guarding the small boat moorings, and only a few guards were left on the seagoing ships.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Enemy attack.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When the Later Jin guards on shore saw fires breaking out one after another among the seagoing ships, they shouted at the top of their lungs. By the time the Later Jin niru commander rushed out, most of the seagoing ships were already ablaze, and he could only stand there dumbstruck.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“My lord, our troops took fifteen heads, recaptured two large seagoing ships, and burned all the remaining seagoing ships. A few Jianzhou slaves fell into the water and could not be found.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Good. A first-class merit is in hand. This Garrison Commander of mine ought to be promoted now.” The young officer addressed as “my lord” was named Mao Kexi, originally surnamed Shang. His birth father, Shang Shouli, had died in battle against the Plain Blue Banner. So after Shang Kexi received Huang Shi’s letter, he immediately set out with three hundred men of the naval battalion and, as it happened, encountered the Later Jin fleet at Qingniwa (Lüda).\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Later Jin soldiers were utterly incapable of engaging the Dongjiang naval battalion. Although these soldiers had been handpicked, at sea they could barely manage not to get seasick. Caught in a surprise attack, they had no chance even to fight back. Gazing at the string of severed heads before him, the delighted Shang Kexi immediately ordered a continued advance, and in the blink of an eye they vanished into the vast Liaodong sea: “Head for Changsheng Island at once. We shall lend a hand to Assistant Regional Commander Huang.”\u003C\u002Fp>",2899,"2026-06-04T07:54:30.907Z",1,"Novelzhen Translator","448e260a635ead50ea9b6b952e2065b72c9791733abc6615a561d6c1717bcbec","stealing-ming-chapter-176","stealing-ming-chapter-174",323,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fstealing-ming-cover.jpg"]