Chapter 250: Section Seven: Courage

Seeing Hu Yining safe and sound, Huang Shi felt genuinely glad. As the saying goes, "One more friend means one more road open"... Huang Shi had always been a firm practitioner of this maxim. He did not believe that relying solely on Changsheng Island would allow him to overcome all future difficulties, nor did he ever intend to. In the past, whether dealing with the Shandong civil official clique or the Dongjiang friendly forces, Huang Shi had always done his utmost to get along with them.

Although this batch of friendly troops was a bit shabby, friendly troops were still friendly troops, and Huang Shi still intended to unite them as much as possible and establish amicable relations. Moreover, the performance of the Guan-Ning Iron Cavalry just now had reinforced Huang Shi's long-held view: namely, that as long as the Guan-Ning Iron Cavalry fought the enemy earnestly and waged war honestly, instead of spending all day scheming about "letting fellow Daoists die while keeping oneself safe," they were not entirely without combat effectiveness.

After the battle of Yaozhou, Ma Shilong had already fallen from power. As far as Huang Shi could figure, apart from Ningyuan Regional Commander Man Gui, the remaining Guan-Ning Army's five Regional Commanders, including generals like Yang Qi, were basically finished as well. This victory at Juehua, with so many heads taken, led Huang Shi to estimate that the three Guan-Ning Assistant Regional Commanders who had coordinated with him this time were certain to be promoted. It would be best if all three could be promoted to Regional Commander; even if not every one of them could become a Regional Commander, there was still great hope of at least being promoted to Vice Regional Commander.

As long as one could be promoted to Regional Commander and two to Vice Regional Commander, Huang Shi felt that in the future he could be considered to have built some connections with the Guan-Ning Army. Besides, there were also three Mobile Corps Commanders at Juehua; with such great merit this time, they were sure to get their share as well. After this battle, the relationship between the Changsheng Island army and these several generals could be said to be extraordinary. Even if he were transferred to Liaoxi for duty in the future, Huang Shi would not fear being completely sidelined.

By the time Hu Yining returned to the ranks, the horses under Huang Shi's command had recovered some of their strength. He personally led the group, continuing the search northward, and along the way they sporadically found some more scattered soldiers. To conserve horse strength, Huang Shi and his personal guards were all leading their horses on foot, and naturally the nearly one thousand Guan-Ning Army officers and men followed suit. After all, walking a few more steps with so many people would not be too tiring, but at a critical moment, horse strength could determine life or death, victory or defeat.

As Huang Shi walked, he sent the scattered soldiers he found back to Juehua. Most of these men had no horses; if they encountered a large force of Later Jin cavalry, it would be very difficult to flee with them. But if he could not bring them out of the battlefield alive, then why had Huang Shi risked coming to fight this battle in the first place? Although Huang Shi was leading his horse and walking on foot, he deliberately walked ahead of the main army so that those rescued Guan-Ning Army soldiers could all see the banner of Changsheng Island.

These soldiers naturally knew in their hearts who had saved their lives. With these men spreading the word by mouth, they naturally became many volunteer advertisers within the Guan-Ning Army. After walking a few li out, Huang Shi had already gathered three or four hundred scattered soldiers. After expressing their profuse gratitude, they set off on the return journey one after another, heading southward in twos and threes.

Huang Shi remembered that historically, to ensure absolute safety, Ningyuan Fort had sealed all four fortress gates tightly shut. It was only three days after the main Later Jin army had left that Yuan Chonghuan recruited a few "suicide soldiers" from the Ningyuan Fort garrison and lowered them from the battlements to deliver a message to Shanhai Pass. If they wanted the Guan-Ning Iron Cavalry inside Ningyuan Fort to open the gates now, there was truly no telling how many months or years they would have to wait. So Huang Shi instructed these soldiers not to waste time going to Ningyuan Fort to call for the gates. Assistant Prefect Zhao at Juehua should already have soup heated and rice cooked; returning to Juehua immediately was the sensible course.

Huang Shi also still remembered the scene when he went to Jinzhou in July. By then he had become Vice Regional Commander of Liaonan, and he had gone to Jinzhou to inspect the combat readiness preparations for the attack on Fuzhou. Tens of thousands of commoners inside Jinzhou Fort had poured into the streets to welcome him. Although the Battle of Nanguan was already half a year past, the gratitude of those military households who had been saved by Huang Shi had not only not faded, but had grown richer and stronger like aged wine. Among so many military households in Jinzhou Fort, every family had erected a longevity tablet for Huang Shi. Looking at those tens of thousands of faces cheering and leaping for joy toward him, Huang Shi could not help but think — after pacifying Liaodong, spending the rest of his life right here in Liaonan would be quite wonderful.

After Hu Yining returned to the ranks, he absolutely refused to change back into his general's armor no matter what was said. When everyone just now had urged him to pay attention to his image, Assistant Regional Commander Hu had bellowed at the top of his lungs: "I fled, I changed into a common soldier's clothes. This all happened under the bright sun and moon in broad daylight. Even if I changed back, it would be nothing but covering my ears while stealing a bell. However..."

Assistant Regional Commander Hu extended both hands, gesturing with his thumbs, and declared to Huang Shi: "However, the moment this humble general saw Your Lordship Huang's heroic bearing, my courage grew and my valor returned. Thinking that my Hu family has also been a hereditary military house for one hundred and fifty years, I now hate myself for not having died on the battlefield just now, bringing shame to my ancestors in vain. Now this humble general intends to wear this common soldier's garb and follow Your Lordship Huang to fight through seven advances and seven breakouts. This is called repenting past mistakes, this is called knowing shame and then becoming brave!"

Now dressed in a common soldier's clothes, Hu Yining led a horse with his left hand and held a cavalry lance upright with his right, following closely behind Huang Shi on foot, looking just like an attendant. But Assistant Regional Commander Hu, who knew shame and then became brave, not only did not fear being seen as a retainer, but actually wore a smug, self-satisfied smile on his face. When someone just now asked why Huang Shi was not riding a horse, Assistant Regional Commander Hu had bristled and glared as he rebuked them: "His Lordship Huang is conserving horse strength. How can you not understand even such a simple matter? If by chance we encounter that old scoundrel Nurhaci, and His Lordship Huang lacks the horse strength to catch him, letting the old slave escape — would that not be a pity?"

Hearing this, Huang Shi could not help but laugh inwardly. The point about conserving horse strength was correct, but the purpose of conserving horse strength was clearly not to pursue the enemy. If Assistant Regional Commander Hu's crow's beak jinxed them and they really encountered Nurhaci's main force, then Huang Shi would certainly flee in panic. This reasoning Huang

Shi felt that Hu Yining also understood in his heart, but it was not bad for him to say so; at least it could boost morale, so Huang Shi let him be.

The great army of over a thousand advanced slowly, and before long they reached a place less than a few li from Lianshan Fort. The site of the battle between the Later Jin rear guard and the Juehua Guan-Ning Army in the early hours of this morning was not far from here; Assistant Regional Commander Jin and the others had probably been routed just north of Lianshan Fort. When the Ming army's vanguard crossed the last mountain ridge and stepped into the valley before Lianshan Fort, they suddenly saw a large body of Later Jin officers and soldiers. This gave the Dongjiang Army's vanguard a great shock, because along the way they had not discovered any Later Jin scouts at all, and so had taken it for granted that the Later Jin army was already far from this place.

The Ming army had pursued from Ningyuan Fort, and Huang Shi felt that those Later Jin cavalry who had escaped would surely report the whereabouts of his own troops. Even if the opponent wanted to ambush him, they would certainly have to send men to scout his military strength. Therefore, since they had not seen a single scout along the entire way, Huang Shi had conserved horse strength and not dispatched any long-range reconnaissance teams.

Upon suddenly hearing that the Later Jin army was right before their eyes, Huang Shi was also too shocked to speak. This was completely inconsistent with his many years of experience campaigning in Liaonan; he had never before seen the Later Jin army so careless. The vanguard reported that the Later Jin army did not have many cavalry, and had already made aggressive moves against the Ming scouts. Huang Shi immediately made a decision and ordered the entire army to mount up and ride to reinforce the vanguard.

When Huang Shi led the army charging into the valley, the scene before him shocked him even more. The valley floor was densely strewn with the corpses of several hundred Ming officers and soldiers, most with their heads facing south, clearly killed while fleeing in rout. Before his eyes, several hundred Later Jin soldiers were still searching the battlefield for spoils and severing heads. These Later Jin troops, suddenly seeing the Ming army appear at the valley mouth, were also momentarily stunned. Those few dozen Later Jin soldiers who had been heading toward the valley mouth to attack the Ming scouts, upon seeing the massive Ming column, were also so shocked they could not speak.

Although the Later Jin troops sweeping the battlefield numbered over four hundred, the armored soldiers among them were no more than a hundred; the remaining three hundred-plus were newly submitted Mongol banner levies and Han bondservants. Ever since entering the Hexi region, facing the Guan-Ning grand army that fled at the mere rumor of their approach, the Later Jin army's vigilance had been continuously declining. Although the battle of Juehua had somewhat curbed the Later Jin army's rampant arrogance, they still did not believe that the Changsheng Army had the courage to pursue in force.

In truth, this judgment of theirs was not wrong; Huang Shi indeed had no plan to pursue in force. Today, if not for a group of important figures having fallen into the enemy lines, Huang Shi originally had absolutely no intention of taking a single step beyond Juehua. And after routing the Guan-Ning Army's pursuit this morning, the Jianzhou Army responsible for the rear guard had once again resumed its usual arrogance and recklessness; the fact that the Dongjiang Army had not pursued also confirmed their initial assessment.

The northeastern winter was so cold, and there were so many spoils of war on the battlefield that needed to be collected, so the Later Jin army had not sent out a scout network further south. The two niru that had pursued the defeated Guan-Ning troops all the way to Ningyuan Fort on their own had both perished in the chaos of battle. To evade responsibility, their subordinates had also greatly exaggerated the numbers of Huang Shi's troops, reporting to the Later Jin commander that they had encountered an ambush by a large force of Dongjiang infantry and artillery, but even this had not aroused the vigilance of the Later Jin rear guard at Lianshan Fort.

The several hundred men in this valley were newly submitted Mongol soldiers and Han bondservants, relatively poor and needy. Seeing so many Ming corpses, they had all swarmed over, wanting to scavenge for scraps. The Later Jin officers and soldiers had all along believed that the main Ming army was still twenty li away at Ningyuan; when they saw the Dongjiang scouts just now, they also thought they were isolated Ming soldiers and paid them no serious attention.

Huang Shi naturally did not know these details. Suddenly encountering the Later Jin army at such close range also left him somewhat at a loss, and as a result the Guan-Ning Iron Cavalry charged ahead before him. With a great shout, Hu Yining leveled his long lance and spurred his horse forth. Before Huang Shi could even give the order, a large body of Guan-Ning troops rushed past from both flanks, vying to be first and fearing to be last, closely following Assistant Regional Commander Hu as they swept in for the kill.

In the blink of an eye, Huang Shi found that only his personal guard unit and Zhang Minghe's close guards remained beside him. He restrained his subordinates, who were itching to join the fray, and with a smile raised his whip to point ahead: "Does this battle still require our hand?"

Indeed, it did not... The opposing Later Jin armored soldiers numbered no more than a hundred in total, among whom the cavalry probably did not even make up thirty percent, and they were scattered across a vast expanse of wilderness searching for spoils. The remaining banner levies and bondservants had no combat experience to begin with, and after busying themselves for half the day, each one was drenched in sweat from exhaustion. Nearly a thousand Guan-Ning Iron Cavalry, brave as tigers descending the mountain and swift as dragons entering the sea, appeared before the Later Jin troops like heavenly soldiers and generals. The Later Jin officers and soldiers froze for a moment, then let out a collective cry and scattered in all directions, wailing for their parents.

While the Guan-Ning Army pursued the fleeing enemy, Huang Shi ordered his personal guards to quickly spread out an intelligence network. His earlier judgment had been wrong; the situation was now very clear. The Later Jin army had not gone far, but had likewise misjudged the situation. Since the two armies might already be very close, whoever figured out the situation first would be in an advantageous position and could seize the initiative on the battlefield.

Not long afterward, north of Lianshan Fort.

The Plain Red Banner, which had been responsible for the rear guard in the morning, had already begun moving north. Starting this afternoon, it was the Plain Blue Banner's turn to serve as the rear guard, and tomorrow it would be the Plain White Banner. These three banners responsible for the rear guard would rotate in performing rear guard duties to ensure the safety of the main army. On the official road, a small Later Jin wagon train was advancing; flanking the train were leisurely Later Jin armored soldiers and cavalry units. Within the marching column, the Plain Blue Banner's Banner Lord and the Plain White Banner's Banner Lord were also chatting leisurely.

Hong Taiji could perfectly well have sat in the warm carriage up ahead

instead of riding out here in the wind, but he insisted on keeping his Fifth Brother company to chat and relieve boredom. Manggūltai could neither decline this kind gesture nor did he dislike chatting with this clever younger brother of his. So the two rode side by side, talking and laughing, surrounded by the guards of the two Banner Lords.

When the urgent report of Ming army pursuit came from behind, the faces of both Manggūltai and Hong Taiji instantly changed. It was not that the three beile responsible for the rear guard had not considered the possibility of Ming army pursuit. Although both Hong Taiji and Manggūltai believed the likelihood of Huang Shi pursuing was extremely slim, they had still set up a pocket formation, leaving only a single Plain Red Banner as bait at the front.

But the three thousand-plus Ming troops that had come in pursuit this morning had been easily routed by the Plain Red Banner, and the tactical style of the Ming army was clearly inconsistent with Huang Shi's. All three beile were well aware that there were no Dongjiang troops among them. In the end, the three brothers all concluded that this was absolutely not an operation commanded by Huang Shi. For safety's sake, Daišan had even sent a few Heavy Armor Soldiers to pursue for ten li, and along the way they had found no sign of any Dongjiang units.

Just now, two niru that had been routed had returned, reporting that they had encountered a large force of Huang Shi's artillery and infantry around Ningyuan Fort. This news basically matched the three beile's strategic expectations. They had originally thought: after the Later Jin army withdrew, Huang Shi might go to Ningyuan Fort to link up with the main Ming force. The Dongjiang Army's movements confirmed their judgment. Huang Shi had taken his cannons and gone into the city, hadn't he?

But the latest reports from the troops at hand overturned all previous predictions. Panic-stricken soldiers from the rear reported seeing Huang Shi's serpent banner, and that the cavalry under Huang Shi numbered at least several thousand, too many to count, and were already within ten li of the Later Jin rear guard.

"Impossible! Where would Huang Shi get so many men? I tally Huang Shi's headcount every day for him. How could I not know he has several thousand cavalry?" Manggūltai's face was ashen. He reached into his bosom and pulled out a small notebook — the little notebook he had carried close to his body for months, never leaving his side for an instant. The Third Beile swiftly dabbed his index finger on his tongue and flipped the little notebook rapidly to the page he was looking for. With a tense expression, he traced his finger along the lines of records, rapidly doing the calculation in his head once more.

After finishing the calculation, Manggūltai shook his head. His right hand twitched impatiently, flipping the little notebook back to the first page, while at the same time he stuffed his left thumb into his mouth and unconsciously began gnawing at his nail. With intense concentration, Manggūltai leafed through it once more. The finger pointing at the little notebook trembled uncontrollably. His heavy breathing grew more and more rapid, and the beard on his face quivered faster and faster. Suddenly he let out a furious, grief-stricken roar, his tone filled with despair and indignation: "The numbers don't add up! I said I couldn't possibly have remembered wrong. Changsheng Island has only six or seven hundred cavalry in total. Where did several thousand cavalry come from? Where did they come from? Can Huang Shi sow beans and turn them into soldiers, or did he just pick them up for free by the roadside?"

Manggūltai's mouth gaped wide, his face bright red, as he waved the little notebook in the air. Seeing that he was so angry the rims of his eyes glistened with tears, Hong Taiji hurriedly grasped his arm to steady him and consoled him: "Don't be like this, Fifth Brother. Let's question them carefully again. Don't be impatient."

Several Guan-Ning Army generals returned, panting heavily. Although each one of them was utterly exhausted, every face brimmed with excitement and fervor, especially Hu Yining. Assistant Regional Commander Hu had finally fought a redeeming battle this time. The red tassel at the front of his cavalry lance was thickly saturated with blood, and two heads hung from his waist. After returning, Assistant Regional Commander Hu had not spoken a word; both he and his mount were heaving violently, continuously blowing plumes of white mist in the cold wind.

Jin Guan had no time to speak before he swung off his horse and dropped to sit on the ground. Stroking the Green Dragon Crescent Blade in his hand, he let out a sigh of satisfaction: "The feeling of chasing people... it's so good, so good."

These words drew murmurs of heartfelt agreement from Assistant Regional Commander Jin's other old brothers. Hu Yining seemed to want to say something at first, but the moment he opened his mouth he burst into a fit of violent coughing. As he covered his mouth with his hand, he nodded his head vigorously, his whole face bearing an expression of empathetic accord.

The Later Jin soldiers on both sides of the official road had either been cut down to the last man or had fled for their lives. Worried about a counterattack by the main Later Jin force, Huang Shi did not dare let them sweep the battlefield. No sooner had he gathered the Guan-Ning Army back than the scouts confirmed Huang Shi's concerns. The personal guards scouting ahead had already discovered the Later Jin army's rear guard, and the Later Jin army had clearly also noticed them, having already dispatched a large number of scouts in the Ming army's direction.

"Ten li ahead, the banners of the Jianzhou slaves' Plain Blue Banner and Plain White Banner have already been spotted. There are about a thousand cavalry, slowly advancing toward our army." When that personal guard reported to Huang Shi, a trace of worry was already faintly visible between his brows.

But before Huang Shi could speak, Zhang Guoqing at his side gave a cold snort: "The light of a firefly dares to compete in brilliance with the sun and moon? They've come at the right time. Your grandfather here was just worrying about having no heads to claim merit with!"

Although the battle just now had taken over two hundred heads, in the end there were still too many wolves and too little meat; Zhang Guoqing had not managed to get many. He turned and clasped his hands deeply toward Huang Shi: "This humble general is willing to serve as the vanguard and slaughter the Tartars until not a single piece of armor remains!"

"You may not..." Hu Yining finally caught his breath, and he bellowed: "Mobile Corps Commander Zhang, you may not attempt to monopolize the great merit."

Assistant Regional Commander Hu immediately turned to face Huang Shi: "Your Lordship Huang, this humble general also wishes to go along!"