Chapter 202: Section 19: Breaking the Encirclement

Manggultai was still fighting the Ming troops with desperate courage. With one hand he whirled a seven-chi horse lance so fiercely the air hummed, and by the sheer power of his mount he was actually holding his own against three Ming soldiers before him… To be precise, it was not really a stalemate — Manggultai had completely lost the ability to strike back — but he roared without pause, parrying left and blocking right to deflect the thrusting spears, protecting both himself and his warhorse. When his right arm tired, he would use both legs to make the horse step back one pace in the stirrups and swing his iron shield up and down in defense.

Huang Shi had spotted Manggultai on the front line long ago, but he had not expected the man to keep thrashing about for so long without being killed. With hair and beard all bristling, Manggultai was practically a battle flag for the Later Jin army. Behind the howling Plain Blue Banner lord, the Later Jin soldiers again and again summoned their last dregs of courage and regrouped into battle formations to resist.

By now every Ming soldier knew they could not stay here. The whole army was fighting with all its strength to cut its way back to its own base, which exactly fulfilled two principles of military doctrine: "Do not block a returning army" and "In deadly ground, fight." So Huang Shi was fairly confident in the fighting will of his own support troops and those feudal allied units, while the Later Jin army was mainly relying on the battle fury of their chieftains just to hold their morale together.

"My lord, your subordinate is willing to go and fetch the barbarian chief Manggultai's head for you." He Dingyuan had been wheedling persistently in Huang Shi's ear the whole time. Had Huang Shi's authority not been so weighty, He Dingyuan would probably have rushed up on his own long ago.

"You don't use an ox-cleaver to kill a chicken." In Huang Shi's mind, He Dingyuan was worth far more than a single Manggultai. Besides, Huang Shi did not approve of a combat model that relied on individual martial prowess. He sighed regretfully: "I had originally intended to leave this credit to a pikeman. I never imagined the bastard could charge in and out three times and still not die. It seems cold steel simply cannot finish him off."

Bang!

Five arquebusiers standing behind the main body of the army fired in volley. They had been ordered to concentrate fire and snipe the Jurchen Plain Blue Banner lord. One lead bullet struck Manggultai's mount, and the fatal blow instantly shattered the horse's head. Almost simultaneously another bullet hit Manggultai's great iron shield. The colossal impact tore the shield from his hand and slammed it heavily into Manggultai's face. Blood streaming from his nose, the Plain Blue Banner lord toppled backward and crashed to the ground together with his horse, already unconscious…

Though crossbow bolts and sling stones still came flying in from both flanks, they could not slow the Ming army's moving pace in the slightest. After four hours of fierce combat, there was now no obstacle whatsoever left before them. The army maintained its rotating rhythm and continued to advance. The drumming inside had also turned jubilant and fluid.

The three Later Jin banner lords were now all standing on the hillside on the flank. Behind Hong Taiji there still remained a small part of the "heavy cavalry," but sending them to charge the main road head-on now would be utterly meaningless, and Hong Taiji knew this perfectly well. Watching the Ming army's tight, unbroken formation, he finally let out a dejected sigh and threw his horsewhip and great bow to the ground in helplessness.

Daišan's expression was also extremely grim. The Later Jin army's niru had been smashed time and again, and time and again they had been rallied, only to be smashed once more. Of the seventy niru, fifty had suffered over ten percent casualties and had already collapsed so completely they had no strength left to fight. A few exceptionally daring niru had even taken nearly fifty percent casualties, and many niru commanders had died on the front line. "We have done all we could," Daišan muttered, his face ashen. "Fortunately the Ming army did not pursue, so we have recovered all our wounded."

At that moment Manggultai was sitting on the ground utterly dejected. His bondservants had been bandaging his wounds and had splinted his fractured left forearm. In these few hours of battle he had also picked up numerous wounds all over his body. Hearing Daišan's words, Manggultai swept his arm and shoved away the bondservants beside him, then sprang up from the ground. Drawing his waist-saber with his right hand, he flailed a blaze of blade-light at the Ming army below the hill like a mad tiger, shouting all the while: "I'll hack you! I'll hack you! Hack, hack, hack…"

The bystanders saw how ferociously he was swinging and all fell back two paces. Manggultai kept hacking until the wounds on his arm and thigh burst open again, kept hacking until he was utterly spent… Finally he hurled his saber with all his might in the direction of the distant Ming column, letting out a long howl — "Ahh!" — and then staggered backward as if drained of all strength, his feet tangling so that he looked about to fall at any moment.

"Fifth Brother." Hong Taiji rushed up and, together with Manggultai's bondservants, caught hold of him. Only then did he see that Manggultai's face was already awash with tears and mucus. Great beads of tears kept welling from his eyes, carving two channels down his cheeks, which were caked with mud, blood, and sweat, and finally dripping and splashing from his broad chin.

"A mediocre general like this, who esteems neither wisdom nor stratagem…" Manggultai's voice had taken on a sobbing tone. Pointing at Huang Shi's banner, he cried: "The troops he left on his flanks were either too many or too few. The tempo of his attack was either too fast or too slow. He clearly does not have my fine sense of measure…"

Hong Taiji hurriedly embraced him: "Fifth Brother, don't be like this."

"Fifth Brother…" Daišan also ran over to console him.

Manggultai shook off the people around him, plopped down onto the ground, and jabbed his finger forward, shouting: "I have been through a hundred battles. Every kind of battle formation is crystal clear in my mind. That Huang Shi just casually pulls his troops into some formation every time, then charges in headfirst to fight you."

"I just fought, fought, fought, fought, fought…" Manggultai sat on the ground, flailing both arms wildly, each swing with all his strength, as if locked in combat with an invisible enemy: "But no matter what, I just couldn't fight him off, couldn't fight him off…"

Manggultai opened his huge mouth and let out a wail that was half sob, half laugh, while desperately slapping his own thigh: "And then, inexplicably, I lost, and so many brave warriors died." He tore at his own hair and wept: "These brave warriors were like my own flesh and blood to me, and they died just like that, for nothing."

Hong Taiji said quietly: "I do not think it was for nothing." He shot a glance, and those Plain Blue Banner bondservants surged forward again to re-bandage Manggultai's wounds.

…

He Dingyuan, behind Huang Shi, narrowed his eyes and gazed at the Later Jin soldiers withdrawing into the forest. He asked in a deep voice: "My lord, are we not pursuing?"

"No pursuit. Our army's urgent task is to return to Fuzhou quickly." Huang Shi also had a large number of wounded soldiers under his command, and he was anxious to get back and treat them. Besides, it was already growing dark, and Huang Shi no longer had any interest in tangling with the enemy. The vast column still occasionally received stray arrow attacks from both sides. Huang Shi's men were also utterly exhausted by now and had neither the strength nor the desire to charge into the forest and conduct a mopping-up battle with no end in sight.

Each infantry unit sent out some arquebusiers to provide covering fire. There were no longer any formed Later Jin units on either side of the main road, but some Later Jin crossbowmen were still lying or crouching on the ground, cranking their crossbows. Although the arquebusiers actively fired at these scattered stragglers, the effect was not good. Still, these arquebusiers at least managed to drive the Later Jin light infantry several dozen meters away. The damage they inflicted on the Ming army became negligible, and this level of harm meant nothing at all to an army that had maintained its discipline and order.

The cavalry's performance in today's battle had not been very good. These horsemen had cost Huang Shi quite a lot of money, but when they dismounted to fight on foot they could not match the infantry units. Under He Dingyuan's training, the cavalrymen's individual martial skills were fairly decent, but their group combat and discipline could not compare to the heavy infantry. Although Huang Shi knew that cavalry naturally had their own work to do, he still could not help but rack his brains over training methods for the cavalry.

When he heard that Huang Shi had given up pursuit, Wu Mu understood that today's fierce battle had come to an end for now. "Lord Huang's martial prowess truly overshadows the age. He has easily smashed the Jurchen army's encirclement." Wu Mu was again performing his signature hand-on-chest smile, while secretly making a mental note — in the future, if encountering an ambush, one should charge hard with the troops, and one will surely be able to smash it.

Huang Shi, who had been pondering the gains and losses of this battle, hurriedly looked up and smiled: "Eunuch Wu, you flatter me too much."

"Lord Huang is far too modest!"

"Indeed, Lord Huang is truly like Grandfather Yue reborn!"

Shang Keyi and Zhang Pan also immediately pressed forward. That Huang Shi had not abandoned them and fled at the critical moment had already moved them deeply. So during this period they had both been urging their soldiers to fight desperately to cover the Firefighting Battalion and the Rock Battalion. Huang Shi had also used his own core troops on the outer perimeter to resist, protecting Zhang Pan's and the others' forces. This made the officers and men of the various Liaonan units very grateful. Many of the veterans of the Vanguard Battalion had already witnessed the Firefighting Battalion's combat power at Nanguan. Last time, Huang Shi's troops had also protected the allied forces and left the battlefield, so in today's battle they had kept close to Huang Shi's core main force the entire time. Every man in the Vanguard Battalion believed that the closer they stayed, the greater their chance of survival.

But the soldiers of Zhang Pan, Shang Keyi, and the others had not. So after Huang Shi's army broke the enemy and covered their retreat, these officers and men spontaneously developed a worshipful reverence for Huang Shi. Those Vanguard Battalion veterans also embellished their accounts of the Nanguan battle, and the soldiers of the other two battalions nodded repeatedly as they listened, secretly making up their minds — next time they fought, they absolutely must stick close to Vice General Huang's troops.

Quite a few Vanguard Battalion veterans were also full of regret. They saw that many of their former acquaintances were now in the Rock Battalion's order of battle. Although the Rock Battalion had taken part in the rotating engagement and also lost some soldiers, and if you really tallied the casualties they were probably even higher than the Vanguard Battalion, which had collapsed at the first contact, these Vanguard Battalion soldiers all knew the score in their hearts — last battle it was the Firefighting Battalion that bore the brunt, this battle it was still the Firefighting Battalion and the Rock Battalion that bore the brunt, but next battle they might not be together with them. Given the Vanguard Battalion's performance today, if they met the enemy alone, it would surely be a dead end.

After they marched a while longer, the Later Jin army's harassing troops also disappeared. The Ming army redeployed into a vigilant march formation, with scouts and search parties fanning out. Those Vanguard Battalion veterans who had been busy with their own little calculations, now that they were safe, also sought opportunities to strike up casual conversation with their old acquaintances in the Rock Battalion. In the end, their topics of conversation invariably became questions like "How can I get transferred to the Rock Battalion?" and "Brother, can you give a brother a hand?"

Zhang Minghe was naturally aware of these whispered conversations. After hearing the secret reports from his personal guards, he too began to make his own calculations. But although he thought about it a great deal, the matter was of such importance that he needed to weigh it further. After all, at present neither the Firefighting Battalion nor the Rock Battalion had a battalion commander. Huang Shi himself was concurrently serving as the battalion commander of both. The more Zhang Minghe pondered, the less he looked like someone who could become Huang Shi's first battalion commander. If Huang Shi appointed Zhang Minghe as the first battalion commander under him, not to mention that Huang Shi's old hands would not accept it, the officers and men of the old units would not accept it, and probably the Vanguard Battalion would not accept it either — even Zhang Minghe himself would not accept it… So this matter had to be planned carefully over the long term.

"Reporting to my lord, the Ming army's banner still flies above Fuzhou city." A scout came galloping back in high spirits to report.

Huang Shi gazed into the distance at the sun, which was about to disappear behind the mountain, and let out a long breath from his chest. The last trace of worry vanished like smoke at that moment. "Pass this good news on to the entire army."

"Long live!"

"Long live!"

"Long live!"

In the late-June heat, this batch of Ming troops had crossed into Fuzhou today, marched for several double-hours, and then fought dripping with sweat for over two more double-hours. Every one of them was long since parched and their armor soaked through with sweat. Upon hearing that Fuzhou was safe and sound, these soldiers also knew that they would be able to rest in at most half a double-hour, so the whole army, from top to bottom, erupted in jubilation. Soaring morale shot straight into the heavens.

During the preceding battle, Wu Mu had been craning his neck in longing for reinforcements from Fuzhou. Amid his constant disappointment, he had come to hate Jin Qiude and Shang Kexi to the bone. On the march back, Wu Mu's bellyful of grievances had fermented into venomous spite. While telling himself to remember today's lesson (when fighting, one must unconditionally go to reinforce the Regional Commander), he was also scheming how to poison Huang Shi's ears against Jin Qiude, Li Yunrui, and Deng Ken.

But upon seeing this tidal wave of cheers and the seething army, Wu Mu's heart full of resentment was instantly blown by a great wind to the isle of Java. He smiled with his hand on his chest, nodding repeatedly while murmuring in praise: "Jin Qiude was unhurried and unflustered. He truly has the talent of a great general." At this moment, in Eunuch Wu's heart, today's lesson summary had changed again to — one must assign reliable men to guard the home base, and when things happen one absolutely must not panic.

Amid the cheering, He Dingyuan pressed close to Huang Shi and shouted at him: "My lord, after this battle, the Jurchen will surely not dare to look directly at Changsheng Island, and will surely not dare to face our army in formation again."

"Oh?" Huang Shi glanced at He Dingyuan. "Why does Mobile Corps Commander He think so?"

He Dingyuan, looking utterly confident, answered without a second thought: "The Jurchen set such an elaborate net, brought seventy niru against you, my lord, with crossbows and chevaux-de-frise, and even their banner lords led from the front. Yet in the end we still broke through their encirclement and inflicted heavy casualties. After this, how could they still have the nerve to draw up in formation and face us?"

"If the Jurchen had retreated when my Firefighting Battalion's Second Company broke through — yes, I would agree with you." Huang Shi's face took on a serious expression. If at that moment the Later Jin army had truly chosen to lift the siege and retreat, then in the future, whenever these Later Jin troops encountered the Changsheng Army again, they would likely flee at the mere rumor of their approach and never be fit for battle again. Moreover, the Later Jin troops who fought the Changsheng Army today were niru drawn from six banners. They would spread this defeatist sentiment throughout the entire Later Jin army. In that case, the Later Jin side would probably have no troops left capable of fighting. This was precisely why Huang Shi, the moment he saw the Later Jin army's deployment, had concluded that "the Jurchen are already defeated."

But today the Later Jin army had ultimately adjusted its strategy. Although it cost them hundreds or even thousands more casualties, and at least five hundred more dead, the second-line troops of these seventy Later Jin niru all got tempered. Though they could not stop the Ming army from breaking out, their morale had not suffered an irreversible blow, and their fighting spirit had not completely collapsed.

The most important point was that Huang Shi believed the Later Jin banner lords and niru had preserved their fighting will through this fierce battle. The tenacity and offensive spirit they displayed in the latter half of today's fighting had swept away the demoralized air of the early battle and left a deep impression on Huang Shi. Tilting his head, he gave his assessment: "The Jurchen are still an army that can fight. They have not yet reached the point of total defeat. We must never underestimate the enemy again."

Seeing He Dingyuan's expression turn somewhat disappointed, Huang Shi could not help but laugh: "Of course, each battle will be easier than the last." In the past, the Changsheng Army's battles had always been decided very quickly, so the troops had explosive power to spare, but their resilience was highly questionable. By the end of today's battle, although Huang Shi's men still resolutely obeyed orders, their spirit had clearly flagged considerably.

"Today my troops first crossed the river, then advanced on alert, immediately followed by a forced march, and finally completed a breakthrough assault operation." Huang Shi murmured to himself, calculating the time for a moment, then suddenly snapped his fingers: "Today, from morning to night, we marched and fought continuously for seven double-hours. A large number of units endured prolonged baptism by arrows and stones, and under pressure from the Jurchen, carried out complex formation changes and combat."

"This is truly invaluable experience for my Changsheng Army, truly invaluable." Huang Shi could not help but laugh heartily: "After this battle, my Changsheng Army has finally been tempered a hundred times into steel."

As Huang Shi's trusted confidant, He Dingyuan had always known that Huang Shi valued veterans and wounded soldiers who returned to the ranks most highly, and he placed even greater extreme importance on the battlefield pressure that officers had once endured. For example, after the battle of Gaizhou, Huang Shi had looked with particular favor upon those officers who had withstood the pressure of the Later Jin army. If it were just this once, He Dingyuan might suspect that Huang Shi valued them because they had shared hardship with him at the battle of Gaizhou, but the battle of Nanguan was very telling. In that battle, the left flank had collapsed and even swept away many troops of the Firefighting Battalion, but afterward Huang Shi still transferred many of the surviving officers and veterans into the training corps to be cultivated as seeds. The scenes and psychology of their collapse under pressure were also compiled and made into required reading for everyone from staff officers to frontline officers.

Seeing Huang Shi laugh so heartily, He Dingyuan also smiled and said: "Your subordinate congratulates you, my lord. In three months, our Changsheng Island can add another battalion of crack troops."

Huang Shi smiled faintly: "Four months at most. And I'm afraid it will be more than just one battalion."