Chapter 181: Section 38: Hard to Hold

Huang Shi held the military intelligence report in his hand, silently laughing at himself for being overly anxious. He had originally thought of stirring up some infighting among the Ming troops to give himself an excuse not to throw his men into a bloody battle, but now it was clearly unnecessary.

"Go call Li Chengfeng, Mao Youjie, Mao Kexi, and the others. Tell them to go to Lord Sun's residence immediately — there is urgent military intelligence." Huang Shi promptly gave the order to Hong Antong, then took Jin Qiude and Zhao Manxiong and rushed to see Sun Chengzong.

For men like Shang Kexi and Geng Zhongming, who cared deeply about face and had little magnanimity, if Huang Shi truly wanted to resolve the conflict between them, the correct approach would have been to praise them openly and reprimand them harshly in private. That way they would gain enough face before their soldiers and subordinates, and would also understand that Huang Shi would not shelter them forever.

Unfortunately, Huang Shi did exactly the opposite. For the friction between the two, he simply adopted the method of dealing fifty strokes of the board to each, while in private he soothed them with gentle words, making both believe that Huang Shi was on his side deep down. The two thus became even more unrestrained, and were always looking for a chance to win back the face they had lost. In the last two days, Geng Zhongming and Shang Kexi had both been interacting with the mindset of "If I don't screw you to death this time, you bastard, I'll take your surname." Yesterday, a large-scale armed brawl even broke out.

Shang Kexi's men were indeed more elite, as he had claimed, but the Geng brothers, relying on superior numbers, gradually overwhelmed their opponents. By the time Huang Shi arrived to suppress the fight, Geng Zhongming's side had already achieved a favorable exchange ratio — only about ten of theirs had been beaten so badly they could not get out of bed, while they had seriously wounded over twenty of Shang Kexi's naval battalion soldiers. This naturally infuriated Sun Chengzong, but Huang Shi, using the pretext that "this is a time when we need every man," persuaded Sun Chengzong to let them redeem themselves through service.

"Grand Secretary, here are the banners of the Jianzhou slaves discovered by our scouts." Huang Shi handed the intelligence to Sun Chengzong with a relaxed expression. The latter, seeing that Huang Shi did not seem very tense, did not pay special attention at first, but after only a couple of glances, Sun Chengzong immediately became extremely grave.

Sun Chengzong looked up and saw that Huang Shi still wore an utterly unconcerned expression. He could not help but be somewhat surprised: "Huang Shi, is this intelligence of yours accurate?"

"How would this humble general dare deceive the Grand Secretary with falsehoods? This intelligence is absolutely true." With an innocent look, Huang Shi's tone remained as steady and firm as ever, without the slightest wavering.

"Then... then why do you, Huang Shi, not seem the least bit anxious?" Sun Chengzong felt that Huang Shi's expression was somewhat strange; he could detect not a trace of tension or unease from this man.

Huang Shi gave a slight smile and quietly explained to Sun Chengzong: "If the Jianzhou slaves had only come with the Bordered White Banner, this humble general would have Mao Youjie, Mao Kexi, and the others lead their own troops and the Vanguard Battalion to defend the city, while I myself would lead the Firefighting Battalion to smash the Jianzhou slave reinforcements. If the Jianzhou slaves' Plain Red Banner had also brought a few niru along, this humble general could still take Mao Kexi to strike the reinforcements. Even if the Jianzhou slaves' Bordered Red Banner had also come south, this humble general could still wait in the city and look for an opening among the Jianzhou slaves. But now..."

At this point Huang Shi shook his head, indicating he was powerless: "Since defending the city is the only path left, what does this humble general have left to worry about?"

Hearing Huang Shi say this, Sun Chengzong merely let out a deep sigh. Then the old man and the young man exchanged a glance and both burst into laughter. After laughing a few times, Huang Shi secretly turned his face away, inwardly admiring the courage of this civil official Sun Chengzong. It was one thing for himself, having rolled and crawled through battlefields many times, but this old man Sun had never seen an enemy army before, yet at the first sight of the enemy's strength, he showed no sign of panic. Nor did he display the slightest fear or thought of retreat.

Very soon Shang Kexi, Geng Zhongming, and Li Chengfeng all arrived. After reading the intelligence, all three were so tense they could not sit still, especially the Jinzhou Garrison Commander Li Chengfeng, who was already ashen-faced. The scouts reported discovering the banners of the Later Jin's Plain Red, Bordered Red, Bordered White, and Bordered Yellow banners. The commander appeared to be Nurhaci himself, and the relief force numbered at least sixty niru.

Huang Shi estimated that the Later Jin army at Nanguan would soon abandon their baggage to rendezvous with the relief force, because Nurhaci's relief force had brought a considerable amount of supplies with them. Since they had emptied their country to come out, they would certainly be anxious to return to Liaoyang, so it would be impossible for them to push large carts around near Jinzhou any longer. Without the encumbrance of baggage, the Later Jin army at Nanguan could quickly merge with the relief force. Then the entire Later Jin army would have at least eight thousand armored combat soldiers, possibly even as many as ten thousand.

Faced with such overwhelming strength, Huang Shi believed that no matter how he played at strategy, the result would be one word — death. Not to mention that in playing strategy, he might not even be a match for the other side... to be precise, he was far, far from qualified.

The Jianzhou slaves have mobilized.

They have emptied their country to come out; their provisions will not last, so they will likely withdraw soon — Huang Shi mulled over the enemy's possible actions repeatedly, his mind so absorbed for a moment that he blurted out: "This general has already decided on the plan. I will personally lead the Firefighting Battalion to hold Jinzhou firmly. Garrison Commander Mao Kexi will lead his own troops to protect Lord Sun and go to the dock fortress."

A fort had also been built at the Jinzhou docks, and this fort was shielded by the sea, so only one side faced the land. Moreover, this side was tucked behind Jinzhou Fort and received good cover, so the dock fortress was truly a very safe place. Having Sun Chengzong shelter at the docks not only made it unlikely for him to encounter danger, but if things truly became desperate, ships could be used to evacuate. This arrangement would leave nothing to chance.

But since Sun Chengzong was sitting right here, such military deployments were not Huang Shi's to decide in the first place. After finishing his words, the momentarily distracted Huang Shi realized that the several military officers around him were all looking at him with strange expressions, and Zhao Manxiong was frantically throwing him warning glances. As if waking from a dream, Huang Shi hurriedly turned to Sun Chengzong to beg forgiveness: "Lord Sun, this humble general has been discourteous. I beg your lordship's pardon."

Sun Chengzong stroked his beard and laughed heartily: "No offense, no offense. Continue speaking."

Having spent much time with Sun Chengzong, Huang Shi had never felt that the old man used his authority to oppress him, so he had gradually become more at ease. Now that he heard Sun Chengzong say this, Huang Shi unceremoniously deployed all the military affairs in full. This busy work took the better part of an hour. After making sure every man understood his task, Huang Shi repeatedly hammered out the details with them.

"Lord Sun, do you have any further instructions?" Throughout the entire time Huang Shi was arranging the work, Sun Chengzong never once interrupted him. Only after everything was completely finished did Huang Shi ask this token question.

"Very good. Let us proceed accordingly." Sun Chengzong agreed without a second thought. But he immediately added another sentence: "However, this official will not go to the harbor fortress. This official will remain here in Jinzhou Fort."

Had it been anyone else, Huang Shi would certainly have said a few polite words. But the man before him was not some other civil official — it was Sun Chengzong. This man was that quintessentially traditional Chinese scholar-official, the kind so traditional he could not be more traditional, who held that "when high in the temple halls, one worries for the people; when far away among the rivers and lakes, one worries for his sovereign."

Historically, after Sun Chengzong fell under the suspicion of the Chongzhen Emperor, he retired and returned to his hometown. After returning to his old home in Gaoyang, Sun Chengzong donated the greater part of his ancestral property to build Gaoyang's city walls. In the eleventh year of Chongzhen's reign, when nearly ten thousand queue-wearing soldiers once again broke through the passes to plunder, over a hundred thousand Ming troops vied to be the first to "redeploy." The defending troops at Sun Chengzong's old home of Gaoyang also scattered in a single rush.

At that time, friends earnestly urged Sun Chengzong to take refuge in the sturdy city of Baoding, even saying that since Sun Chengzong had already retired, he no longer had the obligation to defend the territory. But Sun Chengzong, enraged by the cowardice and incompetence of the government troops, used the principle that "the rise and fall of the nation is the concern of every common man" to inspire his own descendants, leading them to rise up and resist. In the defense of Gaoyang, not a single soldier of the Great Ming's government troops could be seen. On the city walls were only Sun Chengzong's descendants, relatives, friends, and neighbors. Behind them, beating the drums to boost morale, was that old man, already seventy-six years of age...

In his previous life, three hundred years later, Huang Shi had read this passage of history. Therefore he knew that saying to Sun Chengzong things like "How can your lordship's body, worth a thousand pieces of gold, remain in a place of danger?" or "I venture to request that your lordship command from the rear, so that we humble generals may be free of worries behind us" would probably be an insult to the old man.

"In that case, I request that Lord Sun command from the enemy tower at the north gate of Jinzhou Fort. When the city is defended, this humble general ventures to ask Lord Sun to beat the drums for the entire army to boost morale."

The request Huang Shi made was rather discourteous, causing the other military officers to grow uneasy. But the old man Sun laughed heartily and said: "Good, good. That suits this superintendent's wishes perfectly."

The nineteenth day of the second month, the fifth year of the Tianqi reign.

Nurhaci's royal banner was pitched three li outside the north gate of Jinzhou, but Huang Shi did not have the slightest interest in firing a cannon shot at it. First, his six-pounder cannons could not reach that far. Second, even if Huang Shi had a cannon that could fire three li, he doubted he had the karmic virtue to hit that wild boar hide. From three li away, people appear smaller than ants; to hit one with a single cannon shot would make one a good man of nine lifetimes... no, a miracle that only a good man of nine hundred lifetimes could achieve.

Wu Mu and the two Embroidered Uniform Guard members hid far in the rear. Eunuchs were the Emperor's household slaves, while Sun Chengzong was the Emperor's teacher. Therefore, ever since Sun Chengzong had arrived, Wu Mu had never again appeared before Huang Shi's eyes. Today, though the situation was so dire, Wu Mu still did not dare to step forward and perform his duties as Army Supervisor.

Nurhaci's relief force formed a semi-encirclement around Jinzhou. Sixteen thousand Manchu and Han soldiers of the Later Jin, who had been trapped for nearly a month, trudged haltingly around Jinzhou Fort toward the direction of Nurhaci's royal banner. They had eaten nearly all their horses and the livestock they had plundered. They had also seized quite a lot of cloth and farming tools from Lüshun, and now all these goods and all the carts had been consigned to the flames along with Nanguan.

Most of these Later Jin soldiers who had sat idle at Nanguan, eating through their supplies, were disheveled and filthy. Those unarmored auxiliaries and Han soldiers were in tattered rags. Upon seeing their brother units of the Later Jin who had come to reinforce them, they broke down in emotional wails one after another. These fellows all knew that if it ever came to a desperate, all-or-nothing breakout, they would certainly be cannon fodder and burdens.

Since the rise of the Jianzhou Jurchens, this was the first time they had tasted such despair and experienced such a brush with death.

Standing atop the walls of Jinzhou, Huang Shi coldly observed this touching scene. The Later Jin bandit conglomerate below the walls had always relied on invincibility in battle to maintain morale and prestige, and had never been forced into such dire straits by Ming troops before. In Huang Shi's design for the future of Liaonan, he also planned to adopt Zhang Pan's old stratagem: transfer the main force back to Changsheng Island and devote full effort to building Jinzhou into an impregnable fortress. Presumably after this battle, the Later Jin army would never again dare to penetrate deeply into Lüshun before they had eliminated Jinzhou. If the Later Jin side truly intended to play this kind of long-distance raid again, Huang Shi would not mind playing "shut the door and beat the dog" a few more times. Nurhaci could not expect to always have the good luck he had this time, to be able to rescue his subordinates in time.

At this moment, Sun Chengzong watched the Later Jin officers and soldiers below the walls weeping in each other's arms, and his heart was filled with a thousand emotions: "Huang Shi, you have only four battalions, yet the Jianzhou slaves had to mobilize six banners just to withdraw with their bodies intact. A true famous general indeed."

As long as Huang Taiji had not yet ascended to the throne, the Later Jin was still a bandit gang, not a state. Huang Shi hurriedly said modestly: "This humble general is an officer of the Great Ming, and the men under this humble general are government troops of the Great Ming. The Jianzhou slaves are merely bandits. Lord Sun praises me too highly."

"If every general and officer of my Great Ming thought as you do, Huang Shi, how could the Jianzhou slaves have been allowed to run rampant to this extent?" Sun Chengzong responded with only a cold sneer: "Those Liaoxi military houses have received the state's grace for generations, yet every time this superintendent orders them to go out and fight, they all come weeping to me about how 'the slaves' mounted archery is peerless, and wild-field battle against them must never, ever be risked.' Hmph, they truly ought to be called here to Jinzhou to take a look."

This talk of "mounted archery" immediately made Huang Shi burst out in cold laughter. He had never believed in any theory of "mounted archery being invincible under heaven." Among the neighbors in Chinese history — from the Xiongnu, Rouran, and Turks to the Mongols — wave after wave of mounted archery peoples had come over the millennia. But from the Warring States period onward, through the tyrannical Qin, the mighty Han, and on to the Wei, Jin, Sui, and Tang, in ninety-nine out of a hundred cases it was the Chinese infantry's bows and crossbows that sent the mounted archery herdsmen crawling all over the ground. In these five thousand years of history, the times when mounted archery had been formidable amounted to no more than a few decades. And yet the Han people, who won ninety-nine out of a hundred battles, were instead labeled a cowardly race, while those nomadic peoples who could only be formidable once every hundred years were deemed "invincible under heaven." This was truly outrageous!

"It was merely the Mongol Yuan boasting of their military might, hoping to use it to intimidate us, the people of China." In Huang Shi's impression, the Mongols had been fated to be slaves for a thousand years. Never mind the Han — even the Turks, Goguryeo, Liao, and practically anyone else could bully them at will. Rather than saying it was the mounted archery the Mongols had practiced for over a thousand years that was formidable, it was more accurate to say that Temüjin as an individual was formidable. But unfortunately, many Han people lacked self-confidence and instead believed that their ancestors were inferior to these slave races of generation after generation... Invincible mounted archery peoples, generation after generation, hid out on the grasslands, wandering, eating sand, and enduring blizzards, while the cowardly and incompetent Han instead occupied all the fertile lands of East Asia. Could there possibly be such logic under heaven?

These theories of "mounted archery" or "Mongol" invincibility always made Huang Shi both amused and exasperated. Before the first Genghis Khan became famous, at least a thousand Genghis Khans had already been beaten into pig heads by the Han. Even this Mongol Yuan only rose to power by exploiting China's corruption and internal chaos, and in less than a hundred years, over a million "invincible" Mongol horsemen were driven out of the Central Plains by Ming Taizu's bamboo-pole troops. Of course, some Mongol compatriots argue that the Mongol Yuan had become corrupt in its later period, and that the Mongol iron cavalry beaten into pig heads by the Ming army did not display their true strength. But what puzzled Huang Shi was: how come the Mongols bullying the corrupt and cowardly Song proved they were "invincible under heaven," while the Ming army beating the Mongols for three hundred years was always dismissed as an empty victory?

The Later Jin soldiers who had just escaped with their lives quickly regained awareness of their own might. As soon as their shock subsided slightly, they surged toward the walls of Jinzhou and began to hurl abuse. The Later Jin army also brought out many flags, on which were drawn various portraits of pigs and dogs, as they shouted Huang Shi's name, calling him a cowardly beast.

"The Guizhou donkey has exhausted its tricks." Huang Shi merely gave a scornful laugh at this and said no more. This tactic of the Later Jin army was just like when he, Huang Shi, had urinated beneath the walls of Gaizhou. If the Firefighting Battalion went out to fight at a time like this, they would truly be fools — curse all you want, sooner or later I will go curse beneath the walls of Liaoyang and Shenyang. Wild boar hide, let's just wait and see.

But after a while, Huang Shi's relaxed and cheerful expression also grew grave. Soldiers of the Later Jin's three banners pushed the women they had captured forward to the base of the city walls, and right before the eyes of the defenders, they wantonly molested them. If any of these Han women showed the slightest displeasure, the Later Jin soldiers would not hesitate to swing their blades and cut off those women's heads.

In the end, those women all forced themselves to smile and laugh, frolicking with those bandits right in front of the Ming troops at Jinzhou. Many men who were clearly Han soldiers also directed lewd laughter toward the top of the walls and sent up waves of unbearably vile and vicious words. Many of the Vanguard Battalion soldiers and Nanguan auxiliaries defending the city recognized their wives and sisters among those suffering women. Low, growling shouts and the sound of weeping born of fury and grief gradually rose above Jinzhou Fort.

"Heh heh, good tactics, good tactics indeed." Watching the unbearable scene below the walls, Huang Shi also gave a few bleak, cold laughs. He shook his head, his expression hardening, and sternly said to Hong Antong: "Pass the order: those who want to cry can go down below the walls to cry. Also, tell the guards at every city gate to keep their eyes wide open. Anyone who dares to go out and fight on their own — execute!"

It was only in front of Sun Chengzong that Huang Shi dared to be so unrestrained. This old man Sun was one of the rare broad-minded civil officials of the late Ming. Huang Shi remembered that historically, during the Zun-Yong Campaign, Qin Liangyu had twice disobeyed Sun Chengzong's orders and had repeatedly raised objections to Sun Chengzong's deployments. A military officer, a woman, and an ethnic minority — yet Sun Chengzong, a weighty minister who had served three reigns, did not mind in the slightest. Instead, he defended Qin Liangyu before a group of indignant civil officials and repeatedly stressed that he placed greater importance on the opinions of frontline military officers.

Had it been any other civil official, Huang Shi, who bullied the weak and feared the strong, would absolutely not have dared to act this way. With his current rank of Assistant Regional Commander of the third grade, never mind a Grand Secretary — Huang Shi could not even afford to offend a seventh-grade censor.

For example, another famous frontier official of Liao, Yuan Chonghuan — if Huang Shi were before him, he absolutely would not dare to utter a word of nonsense. At Ningyuan, a Mobile Corps Commander had merely talked back to Yuan Chonghuan once and was beheaded. Sun Chengzong had even reprimanded him for that. Yuan Chonghuan had also indicated at the time that he would be more lenient toward military officers in the future.

Man Gui — he had a bond with Yuan Chonghuan forged through life and death. Yet during the Ning-Jin Campaign, just because Man Gui was somewhat disobedient and talked back, Yuan Chonghuan immediately swept him out the door. Later, during the Beijing Campaign, Man Gui was wounded by stray arrows from the Guan-Ning army's routed soldiers, and Man Gui, without a second thought, was utterly convinced that Yuan Chonghuan had ordered it. He even unbuckled his armor in the great hall before the Chongzhen Emperor, Sun Chengzong, and the other Grand Secretaries, pointed to his wounds, and lodged an accusation against Yuan Chonghuan — this was also one of the important reasons for Yuan Chonghuan's imprisonment. Although it was later proven that Man Gui had probably wronged Yuan Chonghuan, this incident was enough to show the degree of contradiction and misunderstanding that had developed between Yuan Chonghuan and Man Gui.

As for Mao Wenlong, who had twice submitted memorials impeaching Yuan Chonghuan, Huang Shi remembered his fate even more clearly.

In short, most civil officials of the late Ming lacked the magnanimity to tolerate others. It was precisely a case of "the civil looks upon the military as slaves and maids; the military looks upon the civil as bandits and foes."

When Huang Shi gave the order, Sun Chengzong's eyes were already completely bloodshot. Hearing that Huang Shi had actually issued such an order, a look of disappointment and dissatisfaction also appeared in his eyes: "Huang Shi, this old man feels that the troops' morale can be used. If we send the army out to attack with this spirit, can we not smash the Jianzhou caitiffs utterly?"

Perhaps such morale was rare for a feudal army. But what Huang Shi feared most in his command was hot-headedness and disregard for discipline: "Grand Secretary, there is something you do not know. In military affairs, what is stressed is 'obey orders and heed prohibitions.' If we let the army go out to fight, this humble general fears they will not know when to advance or retreat and will be difficult to control. The art of war says, 'A general does not raise troops out of anger.' This is precisely the time for that."

Sun Chengzong listened and fell silent. After a while, he nodded reluctantly: "This old man is observing a battlefield for the first time. Naturally, we will take what you, Huang Shi, say as correct."

Huang Shi sighed inwardly. To know others is wisdom; to know oneself is enlightenment. Sun Chengzong had prestige, seniority, and was a man of practical action who had climbed step by step from the bottom to the center over decades. He had the breadth of mind to tolerate others and was utterly loyal to the Great Ming. By any measure, he was a minister capable of restoring the dynasty. It was a pity that the Tianqi Emperor had such a teacher yet could not use him, and that the Chongzhen Son of Heaven, perhaps traumatized by the Beijing Campaign, also restrained and hobbled Sun Chengzong at every turn. With things like this, how could the Great Ming not fall? But then again, this was also a stroke of luck for those who sought to usurp the Ming.

"Then why don't you fire the cannons, Huang Shi?" Sun Chengzong pointed below the walls. Some Later Jin soldiers had already entered the range of the six-pounder cannons.

"Grand Secretary, your insight is clear. The Jianzhou slaves are so far away and their formation is dispersed. This humble general fears that even if we fire the cannons, we may not hit anyone." Huang Shi had never had much confidence in his own luck, so he never gambled: "And besides, if the Jianzhou slaves intend to assault the city, it is better that they do not know the range of our army's cannons."

Sun Chengzong had already closed his eyes. Below the walls, the Later Jin soldiers were still wantonly abusing the women. When he opened his eyes wide again, Sun Chengzong said in a tone that brooked no rebuttal: "If we do not shoot down a few of these Tartars, how can the hatred in this old man's chest be quelled? Huang Shi, calibrate the cannon for this old man. This old man will fire it with his own hands."

Huang Shi silently adjusted the cannon's aim, then personally presented the torch before Sun Chengzong. Sun Chengzong raised the torch and stood solemnly for a few seconds, finally letting out a long sigh and hurling it down from the city wall: "His Majesty in his abundant grace entrusted this old minister with the guardianship of this region. Now the people of Liaodong suffer in misery, yet I can only vent my rage by firing a few random cannon shots — truly betraying the Son of Heaven above and failing the common people below."

Just as Huang Shi was about to offer a few words of comfort, Sun Chengzong suddenly whipped his head around, his beard and hair flaring, his gaze like lightning: "Huang Shi, I intend to return to the capital for your sake, to recommend you before His Majesty as Provincial Military Commander and Regional Commander in charge of Liaoxi military affairs. The five Regional Commanders of Liaozhen and the forty battalions of Guanning troops will all be under your command, with three million taels of silver in annual military funds."

"I will give you three more years to train the troops — three years should be enough. Once the forty battalions are fully trained, I will recommend you as Grand Coordinator of Military Affairs, with overall command of the entire army." Sun Chengzong's arm suddenly shot out, pointing at the Later Jin army below the wall as he bellowed: "Destroy this foe before breakfast for me!"