Chapter 231: Chapter Forty-Six: The Final Line

Like every other department in Ningqian, the most important material reserve depot in Ningqian had people daily discussing and mocking Huang Shi; even the most pessimistic civil officials here did not believe they would face an enemy attack within a month. Today Zhao Yin had refused to accept the imperial edict and had also recounted Huang Shi's absurd predictions to his colleagues. Amid the jeering laughter, several civil officials who usually strongly supported Huang Shi were so ashamed their faces turned bright red, wishing they could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.

The twentieth day of the twelfth month, fifth year of the Tianqi reign.

Like every scholarly family, after rising each morning Zhao Yin first went to pay his respects to his mother. Today, as usual, his younger sister was attending their mother at breakfast. After exchanging a few words with his elderly mother and little sister, Zhao Yin went to the front hall, hastily ate something, and then went to handle official business. For so many years he had always been the first among his colleagues to arrive at the government office, and although he had already been promoted to Assistant Prefect, Zhao Yin still steadfastly maintained this habit.

News of war kept coming from the front. Zhao Yin was very busy these days; every day he had to personally inventory the grain and fodder in storage and check them against the account books. The heavy work repeated day after day, but it made Assistant Prefect Zhao feel very fulfilled. In his own official duties he had absolute confidence — I will certainly not hold back Lord Yuan, the Grand Coordinator of Ningqian, nor will I let the frontier army soldiers go hungry or lack clothing.

At the same time, hundreds of li away, Manggultai also rose from bed.

The Later Jin army had crossed the Liaohe at the Sanchahe river mouth on the fifteenth, entered Guangning's Right Garrison (Dalinghe) without bloodshed on the seventeenth, entered Guangning's Center-Left Garrison (Jinzhou) on the nineteenth, and this morning they advanced as hoped into Guangning's Center Garrison (Songshan), where the Ming troops defending the city knelt along the roadside and begged to surrender.

With Songshan taken, the road to Ningyuan Guard was completely unobstructed. The Later Jin army did not even pause; on the afternoon of the twentieth, Manggultai rode at the very front, leading the Later Jin vanguard as they burst into the territory of Ningyuan Guard, and by evening they set camp on the official road leading to Xingshan.

On the morning of the twenty-first, the Later Jin army, its morale soaring, again struck camp and set out. Not long after they began marching, a Later Jin scout rode up to Manggultai and shouted excitedly: "Reporting to my lord, the gates of Xingshan Fort are wide open. The city is completely deserted; the Ming army has vanished without a trace."

Manggultai remained impassive. Such joys had come too many times; they no longer had the impact of that first heaven-sent happiness. He waited until the scout had caught his breath, then coolly pressed further: "What of the beacon towers? What of the storehouses?"

"In reply to my lord, the surrounding beacon towers are all deserted and none have been lit. The storehouses of Xingshan Fort have all been sealed with strips of paper; they should also be completely intact."

"Scout further forward."

"Ja!"

While sending men to race back and report to the main army in the rear, urging them to send men as quickly as possible to haul away the goods, Manggultai said to Dudu, the Banner Lord of the Bordered White Banner, who was beside him: "I will continue south. You lead the Bordered White Banner west and sweep through the Ming country's Daxing Fort and Physician Fort, securing our main army's right flank."

"Understood, Third Beile." Dudu answered loudly, then immediately spurred his horse and led his own troops westward, heading straight for the forward left flank of Ningyuan Guard. The Guan-Ning Iron Cavalry garrisoned at these two places, upon seeing the banners of the Later Jin army, all abandoned their forts and fled west into the territory of the Duoyan Mongols to seek refuge.

At noon, the iron hooves of Manggultai's army had already reached twenty li ahead of Xingshan. The vanguard again reported that the one battalion of Guan-Ning Iron Cavalry garrisoned at Xingshan had completely scattered and fled. Manggultai roared with laughter, his horsewhip suddenly slashing forward: "Speed up the advance! Tonight we shall spend the night at Ningyuan's Center-Left Post, and on New Year's Eve we shall let our lads have a fat, prosperous new year."

At that moment, at Ningyuan's Center-Left Post (Tashan), the defending general was assembling his troops, preparing to leave the city. The Assistant Regional Commander and the Army Supervisor Eunuch stood side by side on the parade ground platform; below them, the troops of the entire battalion were also drawn up in neat ranks, awaiting their commanders' address. Xingshan and Tashan, as the two critical screens protecting Ningyuan Fort, each had a field battalion in addition to their garrison forces; the one remaining at Tashan was a standard chariot-and-artillery battalion.

Gazing down at the one hundred and twenty-seven officers and over six thousand soldiers of the full chariot-and-artillery battalion (including two thousand four hundred cavalry), the defending general spoke with fervent passion: "This general received accurate intelligence this morning. The northern slaves have already invaded Daxing Fort. Our brothers at Xingshan have already gone to the battlefield and risen to counterattack. Now our army shall go to reinforce them."

"Relieving troops is like putting out a fire. Our army must advance with light packs, so the side-carts and cannons need not be brought." Assistant Regional Commander Zhao swept his hand grandly and shouted with martial vigor: "Move out!"

The six thousand horse and foot soldiers of the full chariot-and-artillery battalion, along with large numbers of support troops, filed out through the city gate and headed straight for the territory of the Duoyan Mongols to the west. Since they were going to "attack" the northern slaves, there was naturally no need to burn the storehouses, still less to destroy the two hundred-plus war chariots and eighty-eight cannons of various sizes. The Guan-Ning Iron Cavalry had not detected the approaching Later Jin vanguard, so they were not fleeing in fear of the enemy, and thus the beacon towers were even less necessary to burn.

As the Army Supervisor Eunuch of Ningyuan's Center-Left Post walked out of the city gate, he drew a letter from his bosom and handed it to a cavalryman: "Go immediately to Ningyuan. Inform the Grand Coordinator of Ningqian that the northern slaves have invaded. Our family is leading the troops to resist the enemy. Have the Grand Coordinator of Ningqian dispatch another force to garrison the Center-Left Post."

Compared to Huang Shi's original timeline, the Battle of Ningyuan in this timeline occurred one month earlier, yet the reactions of all parties were exactly the same. Even before the Later Jin army crossed the river, Gao Di, the Grand Coordinator of Liaodong, had submitted a memorial stating that the main objective of the Later Jin army's western Liaodong offensive was the grain at Guangning's Right Garrison, and that they would cross the river around the fifteenth of the twelfth month (in the original timeline, the memorial read: "The slave brigands covet the grain of the Right Garrison and will cross the river around the fifteenth of the first month").

In this timeline as well, the Grand Coordinator of Ningqian had dispatched the fierce Guan-Ning Army general Zhou Shoulian to firmly hold Guangning's Right Garrison. But after the Later Jin army invaded Hexi, Zhou Shoulian once again took the lead in fleeing. His action triggered a chain reaction among the other Guan-Ning Army units. The Later Jin army advanced as if entering uninhabited territory, and the vast quantities of supplies they easily captured further whetted Nurhaci's greed. In just three days they had broken into the Liaoxi Corridor.

The Guan-Ning Iron Cavalry deployed within the Liaoxi Corridor likewise collapsed at the mere rumor of the enemy's approach. Just as recorded in both Ming and Qing accounts, every fort and city along the Liaoxi Corridor either fled or surrendered. After crossing the river, Nurhaci, without firing a single arrow, took in succession Dalinghe, Xiaolinghe, Jinzhou, Songshan, Xingshan, Tashan, and over a dozen other cities and forts. The vast network of fortifications that Sun Chengzong had painstakingly built over several years, at a cost of tens of millions of silver taels to the state, and the countless stockpiled supplies, all fell into enemy hands.

The defending generals at places like Ningyuan's Center-Left Post withdrew into the territory of the Duoyan Mongols without giving any warning. These lands also promptly fell into the hands of the Later Jin army. On the main road leading to Ningyuan, only one final obstacle remained for the Later Jin army — Lianshan Fort.

Just five days after crossing the river, the Later Jin army had advanced over five hundred li through the icy snow. The Ming defensive system in Liaoxi collapsed in the blink of an eye. Spurred on by the ever-increasing captured supplies, the Later Jin continued their deep thrust, pressing straight toward the defensive core of the Ming in the Liaoxi Corridor, the seat of the Grand Coordinator of Ningqian — Ningyuan.

On the twenty-first day of the twelfth month, fifth year of the Tianqi reign, likewise on the sixth morning of the Later Jin's Liaoxi campaign, Later Jin vanguard scouts appeared without any warning near Lianshan Fort. The Ming troops defending the city panicked and immediately abandoned the fort, retreating toward Ningyuan.

Yuan Chonghuan, the Grand Coordinator of Ningqian, was caught completely off guard. While ordering Ningyuan under martial law, he also commanded the mobilization of four battalions to firmly hold Juehua. By this time, any retreat was already too late. Yuan Chonghuan hoped the four battalions of Guan-Ning Iron Cavalry could protect Juehua, along with the vast stores of supplies on the island and the people stranded there.

Juehua, this supply center located deep in the rear of the Liaoxi defensive system, would very soon be directly exposed to the threat of the enemy's blades...

The afternoon of the twenty-first, Juehua.

Zhao Yin, the Assistant Prefect for Grain Supervision in Ningqian, hurriedly rushed back home. Outside his gate stood two small horse-drawn carts he had managed to procure. After running into his home, Zhao Yin headed straight for the rear hall, shouting loudly as he went: "Mother, little sister, are you there?"

Zhao Xiaomei had originally been doing needlework in her mother's room and keeping her mother company. Mother and daughter were chatting happily when they suddenly heard Zhao Yin shouting in frantic urgency and could not help but look at each other in bewilderment.

"Big brother, what's wrong?"

Zhao Xiaomei had just opened the door and stepped out. Before the sound of her question had even faded, Zhao Yin seized her by the wrist. Her elder brother's face was already filled with extreme anxiety. He pushed his sister back into their mother's room, shouting at the same time: "Quickly, help Mother pack her things. You will set out for Ningyuan shortly."

Hearing this utterly abrupt statement, Old Lady Zhao asked in astonishment: "My son, what is the matter?"

"Mother." Zhao Yin casually greeted her, then hurried straight to the cabinet. With a bang he wrenched the cabinet door open. Assistant Prefect Zhao grabbed everything he saw and flung it armful by armful onto the bed: "The eastern slaves have already reached the front of Ningyuan Fort. Lord Yuan, the Grand Coordinator of Ningqian, has already ordered martial law. The fort is sealed — entry is permitted, exit is not. The order just reached your son; it says the north and west gates are already closed, and the east gate will remain open until sunset. Family members of Juehua officials may still go to Ningyuan Fort today. Doesn't your son have a house in Ningyuan? Mother, you and little sister go stay there for a few days first."

Despite the freezing weather, Zhao Yin's clothes had long been soaked through from racing all the way home. Now, being questioned by his family, sweat poured from his entire body like a stream, the sweat on his forehead running straight into his eyes. Zhao Yin was so frantic he could not spare even the time to wipe it away; he carelessly mopped his face with his sleeve and went to lift a chest: "Little sister, don't just stand there watching. Come help, quickly."

After a flurry of chaos, Zhao Yin half-supported, half-dragged his elderly mother onto the carriage, then dashed back into the house to urge his little sister and the two maidservants to hurry up and leave. He himself ran back to the bedroom and took down the treasured sword hanging on the wall. When Zhao Xiaomei and the two maidservants, lugging large and small bundles, walked out of the house gate, they saw Zhao Yin hastily removing the jade pendant from his waist, then tightly fastening the sword in its place, even pulling the knot into a dead knot with force.

"Go quickly, go quickly." Zhao Yin grabbed his sister and was about to stuff her into the carriage.

"Wait," Zhao Xiaomei struggled. She suddenly remembered her elder sister and anxiously asked her big brother: "What about Elder Sister? Does she have a carriage? Should we go to her house to pick her up?"

"Ah, no need. I went to brother-in-law's house before coming home..." Zhao Yin's eldest sister's husband's home was right next to the government office, but Miss Zhao absolutely refused to leave her husband and seek refuge in Ningyuan Fort. The young woman had always felt that their marital relationship could already be described as perilously unstable, and that the marriage had been able to last to this point mainly due to her elder brother's standing.

According to the Great Ming marriage law, having no offspring already met one of the "Seven Grounds for Divorce." Miss Zhao deeply agonized over her childlessness, so she hoped to use this opportunity to secure one of the "Five Grounds Against Divorce." As long as she could meet one of the Five Grounds Against Divorce, her husband could not demand a divorce in the future. Both her elder brother and her husband believed that holding Juehua posed no major problem, so she was not particularly nervous and insisted on staying by her husband's side. After hearing this, Zhao Yin on the one hand thought his sister's resolve was commendable, and on the other hand genuinely did not believe Juehua faced any great danger, so he did not press her to go take refuge in Ningyuan.

After finishing the explanation, Zhao Yin again comforted his uneasy mother in the carriage: "Mother, please set your mind at ease. Juehua has four battalions of Guan-Ning troops here; it is absolutely safe beyond any doubt."

"My son, then why do you want your mother to leave? Mother doesn't want to go; I just want to stay in my own home." Old Lady Zhao's face was full of worry. As she spoke, she tried to climb down from the carriage. Zhao Yin and his sister hurriedly supported the old woman and would not let her get down no matter what.

"Mother, only when you go to Ningyuan can big brother have no worries behind him." Zhao Xiaomei coaxed and persuaded with great effort, finally managing to calm their mother down again. She also jumped onto the carriage behind and closed the door, then stuck her head out of the carriage window: "Big brother, see Mother off for a stretch."

Zhao Yin readily answered: "Alright." Then he urged the carter to start moving. His right hand gripped the carriage window as he walked slowly alongside the cart, his left hand resting on the hilt of his sword.

Old Lady Zhao tightly clasped her son's hand resting on the carriage window with both of hers and murmured a soft complaint: "Why doesn't Lord Yuan let everyone withdraw into Ningyuan City? Aiya, this is really too much."

The Assistant Prefect for Grain Supervision privately disagreed somewhat, but he also knew his mother was letting concern cloud her judgment, so he replied: "Mother, Lord Yuan simply didn't have time. There are over ten thousand military households and merchants on this Juehua Island, plus the troops of four battalions. How could they all get inside in one breath? Besides, the island still holds over eighty thousand dan of grain, over a hundred thousand bolts of cloth, and five hundred thousand silver taels. These all belong to the state and are the very flesh and blood of the people. How can we speak lightly of abandoning them?"

Zhao Yin considered himself the parent-official of the merchants and people of Juehua, and also the guardian of these granaries, so he had never even considered going to Ningyuan to take refuge, nor did he think the military situation was that critical: "Mother, Juehua has so many troops. Dongshan is also very steep and treacherous. What danger could there possibly be? Besides, in such bitter cold, the eastern slaves can at most besiege us for a few days before retreating. Grain, bedding, charcoal... the storehouses have all these things in abundance. We could hold out for several months without any problem."

The carriage slowly descended along the mountain path. As they passed the halfway point of Dongshan, a soldier from the island came running over in a fluster: "Lord Zhao, you guessed correctly. It is indeed Lord Huang's troops arriving. They say they have three thousand men."

Upon hearing this, a cold sneer appeared at the corner of Zhao Yin's mouth. He snorted once and said nothing further. His mother and sister both looked at him with expressions of surprise. Seeing this, Zhao Yin explained to his mother: "Mother, this matter is a long story..."

This morning, the coastal watch posts on Juehua Island had spotted masts emerging from the distant sea horizon, followed by one sea vessel after another, surging forth in an unbroken line from where sea and sky met. Zhao Yin had suspected at the time that it was Huang Shi's troops arriving, but he was not entirely certain, so he sent men to wait on the ice and prepare to communicate with the fleet. But before they received word from the fleet, the order for Ningyuan's martial law arrived. At that point, Zhao Yin had hurriedly rushed back to his residence to move his family.

The carriage quickly followed the mountain road to the northern slope of Dongshan. Zhao Yin gazed eastward for a moment and snorted again: "The ones coming to add to the chaos are right there!"

Zhao Xiaomei followed her brother's outstretched arm and looked down at the vast ocean east of the island. Dozens of enormous sea vessels glided slowly across the mirror-like sea. Those at the forefront had already furled their sails and lowered their oars, slowly cruising at the edge of the floating ice zone. The fleet behind still maintained a straight line, surging continuously toward Juehua.

"Three thousand men, hmph, just one battalion at most, and Dongjiang troops as ragged as beggars at that." Zhao Yin gazed contemptuously at Huang Shi's fleet. Right now, Juehua Island already had four battalions of Guan-Ning Iron Cavalry, plus over ten thousand able-bodied men from the military households. More importantly, for the urgent deployment of defenses, Zhao Yin believed every ounce of manpower had to be used where it was most needed: "If they want to steal credit, let them go steal it somewhere else. Juehua has plenty of serious work to do right now. I have no time to wrangle with these army ruffians."

Huang Shi paced anxiously back and forth at the bow. It seemed the port of Juehua still showed no sign of any ice-breaking effort; his troops simply could not land. Although many in his force had sailing experience, the sea voyage over the past few days, battered by the fierce north wind, had left many new recruits vomiting and utterly disoriented; some were already near death. So Huang Shi was extremely eager to get ashore and restore his troops' strength.

The small boats he had dispatched rowed at great risk into the floating ice zone and made contact with the defending troops on the ice layer. Using flag signals, they maintained constant communication with Huang Shi's large ships. According to those brave soldiers, the other side merely asked repeatedly to confirm the fleet's troop strength and the commanding military officer. As for the ice-breaking that Huang Shi had repeatedly urged, those Juehua soldiers indicated they did not know when it could begin, still less when it could be completed.

After a long wait, the soldiers making contact finally sent another message, saying that the defending troops of Juehua were demanding that Huang Shi land at Ningyuan's Center-Right Post, and also saying that all of Juehua's manpower was needed to dig ice trenches to the west, so they had no time to come to the eastern shore to break the port ice.

This news struck like a heavy hammer, making Huang Shi's vision go black. His body swayed and he staggered several steps, which greatly alarmed Wu Mu beside him, who hurriedly reached out to grab him: "Lord Huang, what's wrong with you?"

"Your subordinate's foot slipped. It's nothing," Huang Shi said to cover it up. He knew he was the army's nerve and could not let his men, especially Wu Mu, feel disoriented. Then he had the flag-bearer ask again whether the Later Jin army had already arrived, and he received an affirmative reply.

The Juehua side reiterated once more: they have no interest in the refugee armed forces of Dongjiangzhen!

Huang Shi simply could not believe his ears...